Heartbeat of Absolute
by Kav23
Summary: Reid was attacked and Jack was kidnapped when both were buying some food. With Reid fighting for his life, will Hotch find his son, unharmed, in time? Can Reid forgive himself and will his life be the same again? No slash, family fiction.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

**Have a nice day. Please review.**

"How could it even be possible?"

Upon hearing Reid's distressed voice; Kate set her pen down and brought her eye sight up to match Reid's. "What happened, Reid?"

"What happened?" Reid whispered the question again. "The coffee machine broke down; do you have any idea what does that mean?

Kate raised her eyebrow, wondering how a person can be so disturbed by the fact a coffee machine not functioning. "Erm … I am not sure if I want to know the consequences of that."

"That means…" Reid checked his watch. "… No coffee for the next six hours!" Reid panicked. "How I can survive that?"

"Reid…" Kate called as she raised both her hands, in posture to calm him down. "I am sure we can fix that."

"We're going to fix what?" Morgan appeared suddenly out of nowhere, and stood beside Reid as he wrapped right hand around Reid's shoulders.

Before Reid could answer, Morgan spoke. "Oh, wait… this is…" Morgan circled his pointing finger across Reid's face; "one of my pretty boy with serious face. What happened, Kid?"

"Apparently, the coffee machine is not working." Kate said.

Morgan chucked.

"Morgan!" Reid hissed.

"One good news, I have been thinking how to decrease his caffeine intake." JJ said from the other table.

"I don't drink much." Reid justified.

"Drink, a very wrong word to describe the way you consume coffee." Garcia questioned. "Wonder boy, you gulp down liters of coffee every day."

"Since when drinking a cup coffee is a crime?"

The others shared a little moment of laughs, when Reid stared back and forth between his teammates "What?"

Garcia jumped off of Reid table, walked straight to Reid, and pinched both sides of his cheeks as she said "Reid, you're too cute."

"Garcia!" Reid squeaked.

"What's the discussion about?" Rossi appeared with Hotch beside him.

"Hey, Jack" JJ smiled and waved towards the boy. "Hotch, I didn't know Jack was here."

"Yes." Hotch ruffled Jack's hair as he answered. "Jessica had some emergency work to deal with. Jack was a little bored to stay at home and besides, it's only paperwork only so I though why not?"

"Sir, you should have told me." Garcia smiled. "I could have entertained Jack."

"Thank you, Garcia, but he has enough homework to finish before he goes back to school."

Jack was a little shy of sudden attention he was getting, he smiled gently before he waved towards the others.

"Where are you going, Kid?"

"Out, across the street to get a cup of coffee."

"Reid." The others called in union.

"If you guys don't want to hear on statistics of people becoming violent due to lack of caffeine …"

"Reid."

"Hotch, not you too." Reid grumbled.

"Actually, I was about to ask you if it's okay for you to take Jack with you to buy him lunch?"

"Oh…"

"Is it okay with you? I have some emergency meeting to attend to."

"Sure." Reid smiled as he looked at Jack.

"Reid, make sure he gets something healthy." Hotch spoke with a stern voice.

"I am sure we can work on that, don't we Jack?" Reid asked as he took Jack's hand from Hotch. "It's okay, Hotch. Jack's lunch is on me." Reid said when he saw Hotch reaching for his wallet.

"In that case, pack something for us too, pretty boy." Morgan said.

"Somebody was saying anything, Jack?" Reid asked, pretending not to hear.

"That's rude, Reid!" Morgan shook his head.

CM-CM-CM

"Any idea on what you want to have, Jack?" Reid asked as he held Jack's hand before both crossed the busy road.

"Pizza." Jack said.

"Are you sure?" Reid confirmed.

Jack shook his head.

"Well, if you're sure, let's go then." Reid took out his phone and sent a message.

_Will get some pizza for you guys, don't slip your paperwork on my stack. Reid._

_Geez, thank, pretty boy. Oh, come on, I don't do that. Morgan. _

_Yeah, we will know that when I check the files on my stack. Reid._

Almost fifteen minutes later, Reid and Jack walked out of the shop carrying some packed food for others.

"Thanks, Uncle Spencer." Jack said before he took a bite from the chocolate bar.

"Don't tell your dad, I get you that." Reid pointed towards the chocolate.

"Don't worry, it's our secret."

Reid held the packed food in one hand and Jack's hand in his other hand. "Let's get going before it's too late."

Both, Reid and Jack almost crossed the road when Reid heard a loud noise approaching their way. Reid turned behind slightly and his eyes grew wide when he saw the truck speeding towards them.

Reid didn't know if what he did what was right. His only priority was Jack and his safely. His instincts pushed Jack to the side.

Jack was taken aback by Reid's sudden and harsh act. Jack has landed on the roadway cruelly, however, quickly recomposed himself and barely could shout when he saw Reid being slammed by the truck.

"Uncle Spencer!" Jack cried when he saw Reid barely unconscious after being run down by the truck.

Despite the pain killing his head, Jack ran and kneeled beside Reid. "Uncle Spencer, wake up."

"Ja… ck." Reid coughed. "Run!"

Jack has no time to react; a strong hand wrapped around his waist, pulling him off the ground. Jack struggled against the muscular arms.

Barely conscious, Reid watched helplessly as the masked man grabbed Jack from him. "Leave him… alone."

Darkness was slowly surrounding to engulf him. He could hardly breathe.

"No!" Jack cried before he was shoved into the back of the truck. "Don't shoot him!"

Reid could hardly hear Jack's voice. With his blurred vision, Reid could figure out a barrel of a gun being pointed towards him.

His eyelids disobey his commands and closed for once. A loud noise echoed, followed by an excruciating pain being added to his already injured body.

His body and mind gave up on everything it was holding on to.

His heart beats only one rhythm.

_Jack _

**Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

**Have a nice day. Please review.**

Hotch quickly checked his notes and exhaled deeply as he was satisfied with the preparations done for the sudden meeting announced about an hour ago. As he closed the notebook, Hotch checked his watch; he still has ten minutes before the meeting begins and there was no sign of Jack.

Hotch walked out of his room. "JJ, are they back yet?"

"No."

"Aren't they supposed to be back?" Kate questioned as she checked her watch. "Just because he is taking boss's son out, it doesn't mean he gets extra time."

Morgan chucked as he flipped through his paperwork.

"JJ, I am rushing to attend the meeting, can you take care of Jack …"

JJ held up her hand. "Hotch, I got you covered."

"Thanks." Hotch was about to turn away off when two men walked in.

"We were told that we could meet Dr. Spencer Reid's team here." One of the men spoke gaining the team's attention including Hotch.

"He is my team member." Hotch shook his hand with both the men. "Aaron Hotcher. Can I help you?"

"Detective James, Sir and this is my colleague Detective Danny. I am sorry; I brought some bad news. Your agent was shot across the street."

The word shot sent all onto the edge. "What?" Hotch whispered in surprise. It is impossible; Reid has gone out to get some food. That's it.

"You must have got the wrong guy." He tried to reason.

"I don't think so, Sir." James rose up his hand and showed the bloodied badge, gun in the transparent evidence bag.

Morgan quickly snatched the bag and checked.

If it isn't for Rossi, Hotch would have fallen down. The news is just too much for him.

"What about the small boy with him?" Rossi asked on behalf of Hotch.

"He's my son. What happened to him?" Hotch questioned, slightly terrified of the answer he might get.

"There was no sign of any boy when we arrived at the scene."

"However," Danny spoke, "When I was talking to one of the eyewitnesses, she said she saw a boy and the guy who shot your agent took the boy."

Jack has been kidnapped. The word ringed like an alarm in Hotch's ears.

"Okay. Everyone, listen up." Rossi took charge of the situation; He knew Hotch has too much to handle in right now.

"Let's buckle up; we have to get back Jack. Kate, go through the crime scene with these Detectives. I need all single tiny information." Rossi helped Hotch to settle into a chair nearby.

"Garcia, look up for all security footage, you need an extra hand, take Kevin with you."

"On it," Garcia quickly raced back to her room.

"And Morgan…" Rossi turned towards Morgan.

Morgan grabbed his jacket from his chair. "I am going to check on Reid."

"Right." Rossi said. "See, if you can get anything from him if possible."

Rossi turned back to Hotch and sat on his heels, matching Hotch's height.

"Dave, I can't …"

"I know, Aaron. I am going to take charge, and we are going to find your son; I promise. JJ, stay with him."

"Where are you going?" JJ asked, her tone clearly showed she was upset.

"I am going to have a word with the Director; we need all hands on this, and Spencer's going to be fine."

Tears were threatening in the corner of the eyes. "You don't know that."

"True, I don't know that, but I know Spencer Reid. That kid is a fighter."

CM-CM-CM

Kate kneeled down and sat on her heels. Being an FBI agent, she sees a pool of blood on the crime scene every time, but she will never get used to see one belongs to one of their own.

"_You got to fight this, Reid_." She mumbled to herself before she rose up. "Where is she?"

"She is right there." Detective James pointed at a girl sitting in the corner on the bench outside the shop.

Kate quickly walked up to the girl and sat next to her.

"I didn't know buying pizza can be so dangerous." The girl smiled slightly, trying to hide the anxiety kicking in.

"My name is Kate Callahan. There is no reason to be afraid. Is there anything else you can remember?"

"Mary." She said simply. "We came out of the shop at the same time. They were going back, I guess, when this truck come out of nowhere."

"Can you tell anything about the truck?"

"Dark blue, the windows were tinted, I can't recall the number plate, I am sorry."

"It's okay." Kate rubbed her back. "Go on."

"The guy saw the truck coming, and he pushed the boy to the side." Mary stopped and her eyes grew wide.

Kate knew something stopped Mary from talking.

"They wanted the boy!" She almost screamed.

"Calm down, Mary." Kate spoke. "Breathe in and out."

Mary did as she was told and she calmed down.

"Now, tell me."

"The jacket, I was just too nervous, I almost missed it."

"What jacket, Mary?" Kate inquired.

"When we were waiting for our order, there was one guy waiting slightly away along with us, he was wearing cap, trying his best to hide his face. He kept staring at the boy. He almost knocked me down on the way out."

Mary inhaled before she continued. "As he passed by, I heard him saying in the phone _'get the car, they are heading out, we have to do this right this time.'_

"And the stupid jacket he was wearing got the logo of the Avengers movie on its back. It's the same jacket I saw when the guy got out the car and took the boy."

Mary clasped her hands together. "I am so sorry, there was so much going in my mind, I just …"

"It's okay. You helped us a lot. Listen, take this." Kate handed her name card. "This police officer is going to take back home, get some sleep, and if in case you remember anything else, give me a call, okay?"

"I will." Mary said.

Kate rose from the bench. "And Mary, thank you."

Mary looked puzzled.

"They said, you called for help immediately, and you stayed beside my friend."

CM-CM-CM

"Sir, he is still in surgery."

"Well, I need more information than that." Morgan grumbled.

"There nothing I can tell until…"

"Listen lady." Morgan spoke. "His name is Dr. Spencer Reid, one the finest FBI agent I have ever seen in my life. Today, he was shot in the middle road and the boy who was with him is still out there, missing, so I need more than he is still in surgery."

"I will see what I can get."

Morgan sighed when the nurse left. He didn't mean to talk such way but he just needed to know if Reid would be alright. Morgan sat on the couch, leaned against it, and closed his eyes.

His mind wandered to Jack. _God know how the kid is_, he thought. Next, he thought about Hotch and then Reid.

His team wouldn't be the same again if something happened to Jack.

_No, it can't be_. Morgan thought. _Jack, hang on buddy, we are coming for you_.

"Sir?"

Morgan opened his eyes, "You got anything? How's he doing?"

"Dr. Reid was shot approximately 3 cm above the nipple. The bullet went through both of his lungs before it stopped between eighth and ninth ribs."

"Oh, no..."

"The doctors are doing everything they can, just hang on."

CM-CM-CM-

"I guess it's not helping."

Hotch turned the tap off, took a tissue and wiped his face. "I lost Haley."

Rossi walked in and stood beside Hotch. "Nothing is going to happen to Jack."

Hotch sighed as he looked himself in the mirror.

"Look I know it's a difficult situation but your son…"

"He needs me." Hotch finished the sentences and he looked up to Rossi. "I just needed to clear my head."

"Kate called." Rossi said.

"And?" Hotch asked.

"We might have something, but we need to get it checked."

"What is it?" Hotch asked.

"From what she told, they were after Jack. I think someone is trying to get to you and the easiest way is Jack."

"Son of a…"

"And Hotch, this might not have been the first time."

**Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

"I came as fast I could. Aaron, what is going on?" Jessica asked as she hugged Hotch.

"Jack has been taken."

Jessica sat on chair, shocked with the news that she had heard."Do we know who did this?"

"We are trying to figure it out." Kate said.

Rossi was about to talk further when he was interrupted by Agent Oliver.

"Aaron…"

"Agent Oliver, we have a situation here…" Rossi spoke, but was cut in the middle by Agent Oliver.

"I know who took your son."

"What?" Hotch asked in surprise. "How?"

"Two weeks ago, my team has been referred a case, child abduction. Five were abducted, but returned safely when the parents paid the ransom money."

"How do you think it's connected?" Hotch asked.

"We almost got everything about them, it's a team work, two men abducts the kid, hand them to a man and a woman who pretends to be a husband and wife and keeps the kid until one man deals with the parents, get the money and within a few hours the kids are found wandering in the place they have gone missing." Oliver answered.

"Who calls and ask the money from the parents?" JJ asked.

"A man talks by the name, Black Eye."

"What happened, then?"

Oliver inhaled before he continued. "A girl, Sarah was taken from her school this week, we worked on everything we got so far, planned accordingly and we got lucky, when we saved the girl, we caught one man who abducts the girl and at the same time, we caught the husband and wife."

"You broke the chain they have been working." Rossi said.

"Yes and he was pissed. I got this message two days back." Oliver showed the paper he was holding.

_Don't be too proud, Oliver. Let's see what you will do when I take one of your own._

_Black Eye._

"I alerted everyone in my team. Every kid in our family is placed under protective custody."

"I guess that pissed him more." Kate said.

"And I got this ten minutes ago." Oliver sighed heavily before he showed a picture of Jack fast asleep on the back of the seat with _'what you will do now, Black Eye.'_ words written behind the photo.

"I am so sorry, Aaron. I thought I got everything under control." Guilt was clearly visible in Oliver's voice. "Your son has been taken, Dr. Reid…"

"Oliver." Hotch touched Oliver's shoulders. "He is doing things to weak you down; don't let him win."

Oliver nodded, still not convinced of the answer he has received. "My team is ready to brief you guys on all the details of the case we have got so far. I have asked Kevin to share everything he has on the case with Garcia."

"Let's do this." Hotch said before he started to walk out the room. "He has chosen the wrong person to mess with."

-CM-CM-CM-

_ "Eat in or take away, Sir?"_

_"Take away, please."_

_"Your order, Sir?"_

_"Well, I will go for 2 large pizzas; Chicken Pepperoni and Hawaiian Chicken, one personal pizza; Spicy Tuna; also one garlic cheese onion rings and one breadstick, please." _

_"Is the personal pizza is for Uncle Derek, Uncle Spencer?"_

_"Yes."_

_"But I thought Uncle Derek doesn't like Tuna."_

_"Yes, he hates tuna."_

_Jack raised his eyebrows, not understanding._

_"It's a game we play, Jack. It has been going on for some time now. What is your best friend's name, Jack?"_

_"Harry."_

_"Do you like if Harry slips in his homework in your bag, Jack?"_

_"No." The boy answered and opened his mouth in shock. "Uncle Derek does that to you?"_

_"All the time."_

_Jack thought for a second and smiled a little. "Uncle Spencer, you are evil."_

_The small boy giggled and turned again towards the table in the corner of the room. Reid sensed Jack looking at something._

_'Oh, Jack.' Reid thought when he saw mother feeding a boy approximately same age as Jack. Reid gently touched Jack's shoulders._

_"I miss her sometimes." Jack turned back to face Reid. "My mother, but I don't cry, dad said mom would feel sad if I cry."_

_Reid was a little unsure of what he should say, but somehow he could understand Jack's feeling. "I am sorry you don't get to spend time with her, Jack, but remember one thing, your mother would be proud of you because she knows how strong her son is."_

_Jack smiled a little. "Thank you, Uncle Spencer; don't tell dad what I said, he would be sad."_

_"Only if you promise not to tell your dad the game I and Uncle Derek is playing."_

_"Deal."_

_"All right, buddy. Let's go; our order is ready."_

_…_

_"Jack… run!"_

"His BP is dropping, we need some extra hand here."

_"Leave him… alone." _

"Charging"

_"Oh, god! Sir, stay awake, the ambulances will be here soon."_

"Clear"

-CM-CM-CM-

"Garcia, you said you got something to show us." Hotch asked.

"Yes. Kevin and I, we worked on a few things" Garcia said as she showed the video footage of Jack being taken.

"You get anything from the number plate, Garcia?" Kate asked.

"We checked." Kevin answered. "It was stolen. The truck was reported missing since yesterday morning."

"What else you got, Garcia?" Rossi asked.

"When the truck took off, I downloaded all the traffic footage; we followed all the way, until they dumped the truck and they took off with Metro."

"How are we are going to track them?" JJ asked.

"See this." Garcia said as she pulled a video and clicked play. The video showed two men getting down off the trunk, acting normally and one of them was carrying Jack.

"One of them is not so smart." Garcia commented as the video showed the one carrying Jack, turned around and accidently his face was clearly caught by the camera across the street.

"Meet Alfonso Ernesto López. Guess who is his sister?" Garcia asked, looking at Oliver.

"Maria López." Oliver answered. "She is the wife we have arrested."

"Unlike her sister, Alfonso has quite a record, but check this out, ten years back he was arrested in a case involving child abduction."

"What happened to the child?" JJ asked.

"Returned safely after the ransom money was paid." Kevin said.

"What happened to the case?" Rossi said.

"Alfonso was not charged due to lack of evidence." Garcia answered.

"Something..." Kate began, but she stopped when Oliver signaled to them as he lowered his phone and set it on speaker.

"Oliver...Oliver, what will you do now, man? I mean it must be very hard for you. I told you I would take one of your own."

"The fight is between you and me, Black Eye." Oliver said as he looked at Hotch.

"I tried and besides, there is no fun if I have taken your son, you would have suffered, yes; but the now, isn't this moment is more than perfect, I mean all the disappointment, guilt, blazing rage, oh my, I touched a nerve didn't I, Agent Oliver?"

"What do you want?" Oliver hissed.

"Let's see, Agent Hotcher?"

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

Morgan tapped his fingers on his knees nervously, waiting for each and every second to pass. Just as his thoughts was wondering, his phone buzzed.

"Hey, baby girl."

"Hey, do we have any word yet?"

"No, he's still in surgery."

"And?" Garcia asked.

"You know these doctors, you don't get anything out of them, but they… they seemed positive." Morgan tried to convince Garcia.

"But you don't sound so positive."

"Penelope, I am just nervous, that's it. I just want Reid to be okay. How about Jack? Do we have any lead yet?"

"Yes." Garcia began and explained everything that has happened so far. "He said he would call back in half an hour time, to talk to Hotch."

Morgan sighed. "How is Hotch?"

"I think you know better than I do." Garcia sighed from the other side.

"I should be there, helping you guys to find Jack. There is nothing much I can do there, except getting frustrated very second."

"You're helping us already, Derek. We could concentrate here because we know that you are there and you would take care of our baby boy."

"Listen, I got to go; call me the second you hear anything, okay." Garcia ended the call and as she exhaled deeply, Garcia entered back the conference room.

"How is Spence?" JJ asked, and the others looked at Garcia.

"He's in surgery."

"He's still in surgery?" Hotch asked, surprised.

Garcia nodded.

"Guys, he's in good hands. We still have ten minutes before he calls; Aaron are you ready for this?" Rossi questioned.

"I am." Hotch answered with full confidence in his voice.

-CM-CM-CM-

"I need to speak to my son."

"If you give me what I want, I will give back what belongs to you."

"How can I trust you?" Hotch asked.

"I am in charge here, and besides you have no choice, Agent Hotcher. Let me show you."

"Show me? What do you mean?" Hotch asked, looking at others.

"I have left you a package on the bench, right side your office building. Go and get it, I will wait on the line."

Hotch as just surprised as others, snapped out of the moment, grabbed the phone and ran out the room. Hotch reached outside of his office building in record breaking time. He jogged to the right side and eyed the bench nearby. On the third bench, Hotch saw a small boy matching to Jack's body size, sitting with his back facing Hotch. Hotch knew it was Jack but something was not right. Without calling his name, Hotch increased his speed and stopped dead. Wearing an oversized white shirt, Jack sat on a bench with tears in his eyes.

"Dad." The little boy called, fear was visible in his voice.

Hotch feared the most when Jack didn't move an inch even after seeing his father. In the corner of his shirt, Hotch could see something blinking from inside.

"Dad, don't." Jack said when he saw his father reaching his hands to his shirt.

"Don't worry, buddy. I will be careful."

Hotch tried not to get panicked in front of his son. He doubted if it is possible. Sweat trickled down his forehead.

"Aaron, what is it?" Rossi came forward, running.

"Dave, calm him down." Hotch said, before he picked up the phone.

"You sick, son of …. You strapped a bomb to my son's chest!"

"You might want to watch your language, Agent Hotcher; you don't want me push a little button here and your son …"

"What do you want?"

"Great, let's get down to our business, shall we?"

-CM-CM-CM-

"Family of Spencer Reid?"

Morgan snapped out of the thought his mind was dragging him to and looked up, "Thank god; how is he?" Morgan said as he flashed his FBI badge.

"Is he alright?" Morgan inquired.

"He's alive." The young male doctor said. "Dr. Reid sustained a broken leg which was well taken care of. With the help of physical therapy, he would be able to walk. He also suffered from concussion which is healing. He has a sprained wrist, two cracked ribs and some severe bruising across his body."

"But there is something else …" Morgan tried to keep himself calm.

"Our major concern was his gunshot wound. Believe or not, the 6 mm did some real damage. The bullet after passing through the right lung, the bullet penetrated the right atrium, pierced through the atrial septum, punctured a hole near the posterior leaflet of the mitral annulus, and exited the heart on the left ventricle just near the circumflex artery close to the atrioventricular groove. The bullet then passed through the left lung and ended up between the eighth and ninth ribs. As he arrived, we placed Dr. Reid on urgent extracorporeal circulation.

"This circulation thing, what is it?"

"It is this technology which makes it possible for cardiac surgeons to work on the open heart. During extracorporeal circulation, the pump of the heart-lung machine takes over the work normally performed by the heart. It took us some time, but fortunately, we were able to fix the damage."

Morgan exhaled deeply, releasing the half of the burden he was holding on to. "What are his chances?"

"He is not out of the woods yet, but I am encouraged. At the same time, it is very important to carefully follow up with him. You have to understand, it is a major surgery, we have to keep him under control and make sure he doesn't suffer from any myocardial abnormalities, pericardial effusion, or valve-related problems."

"His road to recovery is not going to be an easy one." Morgan said.

The doctor nodded. "But with the help of everyone, I am hoping for him to survive this."

"He will. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. It's my job. Can I talk to the person who would be staying and taking care of Dr. Reid?"

Without any second thought, Morgan answered. "That would be me, doc."

"Okay, then. Take some rest first, you look exhausted yourself. Later, I would brief you on very important things that you should know."

"Can I see him?"

"He is being settled in his room as we speak. I will ask the nurse to get you when he is ready and you might want to keep this" The doctor said as he handed over an envelope.

Morgan took the envelope, carefully opened it and found a bullet on his palm.

"The magic bullet that went through your friend's heart." The doctor patted Morgan's shoulder. "Your friend is a lucky man, Agent."

**PS: The medical details about the gunshot is based on true story taken from American Heart Association.**

** Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

"You got to be kidding me?"

"Do I sound like somebody kidding with you, Derek?" Garcia hissed down the phone, her eyes never left the sight of Hotch kneeling and comforting his son.

Morgan ran his fingers through his bald head as he sighed heavily. "Is JJ there beside you?"

"Yes," Garcia said as she turned to JJ. "Why?"

"Pass the phone to her."

Garcia said nothing, but passed the phone to JJ as she mouthed Derek to JJ.

"Hey Derek."

"JJ, listen to me." Morgan ordered. "Come and swap places with me here, my best chance is being there, see if I can find out more about the bomb."

"Why? You think Spence might be in danger?"

"No, but still I am not comfortable in leaving him alone until we catch this bastard."

"Sure, I will be there in fifteen minutes."

-CM-CM-CM-

Morgan disconnected the call and walked back into the private room. With a sad smile plastered on his face, Morgan ducked his face nearer to his fallen friend. His hand automatically intervened with Reid's.

"Hey." Morgan whispered. "It's Derek, Kid." Morgan thought if the introduction were necessary. "Doc said you're heavily sedated, but I believe you can hear and feel me." Morgan said as he ran his thumb on Reid's knuckles.

_"The breathing tube will stay in until he can breathe on his own, usually a few hours"_

The doctor's words echoed his Morgan's ears. It might be for a couple of hours, but Morgan doesn't like the fact that there's a tube down Reid's throat, helping him to breathe. Morgan wondered how uncomfortable it would be to have a tube down in a throat.

Morgan looked to the side and slightly taken aback by the number of machines Reid was hooked up with. He is not a medical doctor but he knew those were the important machines which keep tabs on Reid's heart rate, blood pressure and other vital signs. Morgan gently touched the small wires hooked up to Reid's lower chest to pace his heart.

_"You can beat this, Reid."_

Words danced around his mind. Morgan wondered if those were genuine words or mere words to comfort him.

Morgan still remembered the doctor's warning, not to bombard him with emotionally disturbing news. Morgan thought if Jack's name would trigger any bad response from Reid. Morgan knew by heart that they have to find Jack before Reid opens his eyes. Morgan also knew that if Jack were still to be in danger by the time Reid regains his consciousness, it would impact Reid badly.

-CM-CM-CM-

"Oh my." JJ said as she stood stuck at the door.

Morgan nodded, giving JJ encouragement she needed. JJ exhaled heavily before she walked in and took Morgan's other hand, stretching to her.

"You should have called someone else." JJ shook her head as she clasped her hand over her mouth. "This is just too much for me. Derek, I can't do this."

"Hey." Morgan whispered, giving JJ half hugs as he was still holding the Reid's hand. "I know how difficult it is for you, but he need some love and care right now and I can't think of anyone else except for you."

Morgan moved to a side and allowed JJ to walk nearer to Reid. Tears rolled down her cheeks when her sight settled on her son's godfather again. Being hooked up with many tubes and wires, Reid looked pale and puffy.

"He doesn't deserve any of this." JJ carefully bowed down and placed a loving kiss on Reid's forehead.

"Stay with him." Morgan said before he started to walk out of the room.

"Derek." JJ called just in time before he stepped out. "Be safe."

Morgan smiled. "We will, don't worry."

-CM-CM-CM-

"Morgan, what are you doing here?" Hotch asked.

"My best chance is here and you know it. Don't worry; JJ is in the hospital with Reid."

"How is he?" Hotch asked, with guilt visible in his tone.

"He's going to be okay and it is not your fault." Morgan said before jogged his way to Jack.

"Hey, buddy." Morgan said as he kneeled himself down, matching to Jack's height. "I am just going to have a look, okay?" Morgan smiled before he carefully checked the bomb.

"Is it going to blow up, Uncle Derek?"

"No." Morgan answered, confidently. "None of us are going to let it happen, especially your father."

Morgan turned and saw Kate sitting beside Jack, holding his hand. "Kate, you might want to…"

"I am not going anywhere until we take the bomb off him." Morgan opened his mouth to say something, but was cut by Kate again. "Save it, you know nothing going to make me to walk out this."

"Thanks." Morgan mumbled before he walked back to his team.

"So?" Oliver asked.

"Seems complicated and I don't want to take any risk. Any plan on what we are going to do?"

"He has asked for ten million dollars, Rossi is taking care of it." Hotch said. "I have to deliver it, alone, no backup, no tricks…" Hotch checked his watch. "In another two hours."

"Where to?" Morgan asked

Garcia came forward. "Prince William Forest Park. The park is the largest protected natural area in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region at over 19,000 acres"

"Based on the location, seems to me he has his escape plan fully planned." Morgan said.

"Money issue solved." Rossi came into view. "We will get it in another one hour."

"What… How did you?" Hotch asked, surprised.

"I did something."

"Dave, ten million dollars is a big money."

"We will be worrying it about later, okay? First, let's focus on getting Jack out of this."

"Hotch, were particularly did he asked you to drop off the money?" Oliver asked.

"He said I will receive a message once I reached the entrances."

"Garcia, if I am not mistaken, the park's landscaping and structures were designed by National Park Service architects" Oliver reconfirmed.

"Yes."

"Call them; we need the map of the park."

"Oliver, what are you thinking?" Hotch asked.

"He might think he has all well planned, but I have a surprise waiting for him."

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

Hotch kissed his son's forehead carefully before he looked back into Jack's eyes.

"Dad." The boy called out, his voice was clearly shaking.

Hotch lightly squeezed Jack's shoulders, giving him the support he needed. "Jack, I have to leave now, but I will be back soon and I am going to fix this, okay?"

Jack simply nodded.

Hotch turned towards Kate and whispered. "Thank you for staying with him."

Kate smiled a little, "Don't worry about Jack; I will take care of him."

Hotch nodded towards her, gave another assuring smile to Jack, before he walked to his team. As he exhaled the heavy breath he was holding, Hotch said, "Let's do this."

"We still got another hour." Rossi said.

"Enough time for us to draw a backup plan." Oliver continued.

"What's going on with him?" Hotch asked, looking at the side of the road.

Both Rossi and Oliver followed Hotch's eyes and saw Morgan pacing back and forth at the road side with a file in his hands.

"Morgan." Hotch called, loud enough to get Morgan's attention.

"You do realize serious look doesn't suit your face." Rossi tried to lighten the atmosphere around.

"What are you thinking about?" Hotch asked.

"Why return the kids safely?" Morgan asked.

"Money was his only priority." Oliver answered.

Morgan opened the file he was holding. "According to the report, all the kidnapped kids reported that they were taken good care when they were held, nice food, warn environment …"

"What are you trying to say, Morgan?"

"What if Maria López wasn't really a part of all those kidnappings? What if she stayed behind just to save the kids or maybe her brother?"

"I think we need to talk to Maria." Morgan continued.

-CM-CM-CM-

JJ was too deep in her thoughts when a nurse walked in.

"Hi."

JJ snapped out of her thoughts by the sudden voice.

"I am just going to give his scheduled antibiotics." The nurse said.

"Can I see your badge?" Her FBI instincts kicked in.

The young lady flashed her badge and JJ took her badge into her hands.

"I am sorry, it's a procedure." JJ said when she finished checking. "Go ahead."

"Don't worry; Dr. Scott has briefed me the nature of this case."

"I am JJ." JJ introduced herself.

"I am Amy." She said before she smiled to herself. "I am sorry, you must have known; you checked my badge."

JJ smiled in return.

"It will surely take some time, but he will be alright." Amy said.

"He has too." JJ said, as she wiped the tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I know it's a hard time, but it will get better." Amy whispered some comforting words.

JJ nodded. "Thanks." She whispered as she took her seat back before holding Reid's hand.

"I guess he's the youngest in the team." Amy said without looking at JJ, giving Reid his much needed antibiotics.

JJ smiled upon hearing the word youngest, "How do you know?"

"We tend to be overprotective towards the young and besides, you should have seen Agent Morgan; he terrified the nurses while Dr. Reid was in surgery.

JJ chuckled for the first time after the horrified day she has been facing. "He's the big brother, what do you expect?"

Amy walked and stood facing JJ. "Let me let you something. I have seen worse cases everyday and I will strongly say all these surgeries, medicines are merely a procedure to save them. Based on the love you guys have for him, I don't think Dr. Reid is going anywhere soon."

"Thank you, Amy."

-CM-CM-CM-

Morgan sat opposite of Maria. "It's not easy to fight a brother like Alfonso."

Maria looked up, meeting Morgan's eye for the first time. However, she remained silent.

"You also thought that together with the kids, you can save him."

Maria's eyes meet Morgan yet again.

"But it didn't happen the way you wanted."

Morgan waited and when he knew she wasn't going to open up, Morgan placed a picture of Reid jumping on Morgan's back on the day they won the game.

"That's my brother, Spencer Reid, although I call him pretty boy."

Maria looked at the picture hesitantly.

"He is in the hospital with a bullet hole in his heart."

Maria looked up at Morgan.

"Thanks to your brother."

Maria shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I tried, I swear I tried. I am sorry"

"It's okay." Morgan whispered. "Do you want to save your brother now?"

"I can?"

"If you tell us everything you know, you can save him and also a lot others."

"What do you want to know?"

"Who is Black Eye?"

-CM-CM-CM-

Rossi came forward, dropping two bags on the table. "Money is ready."

"We better get going." Oliver checked his watch. "We got another half an hour."

Hotch turned back to Morgan. "You're sure about this plan?"

"More than anything."

Hotch took the bags in his hands. "Let's get going then."

-CM-CM-CM-

"Right here, Agent."

Hotch turned towards the voice. "I got the money." Hotch showed the bags he was holding.

"Toss it to the front."

Hotch gave his hands a little swing before he tossed the bag to his front, landing the bag on the ground.

"Your hands in the air where I can see them, Agent." The man warned as he showed the remote he was holding.

Hotch did as he was told.

"Oliver didn't send any greetings?"

"He did, Daniel."

The man looked up, his eyes grew wide.

"Now, Oliver!" Hotch yelled.

Before Daniel could proceed what was going on, a shot rang, sending the bullet right through Daniel's arm. Daniel cried in pain, before automatically dropping the remote on the ground.

Hotch took over the situation and tackled Daniel. In the process of forcefully tacking Daniel on the ground, Hotch gripped Daniel's neck before punching strongly two times directly to Daniel's face.

"How about that, Daniel?" Oliver asked, as he appeared behind Hotch with a sniper rifle in his hands.

Daniel chuckled despite the blood in his mouth.

Rossi walked over and took the remote from the ground. "I am going to take it back, the bomb squad will know what to do."

"Yeah, yeah." Daniel said, as he spit the blood out to his side. "Go and save the kid." Daniel looked down, meeting Hotch's eyes. As he smiled, Daniel asked "Who's going to save your agent in the hospital from Alfonso?"

-CM-CM-CM-

Alfonso adjusted the cleaner uniform he was wearing. As Alfonso kept his head down, he walked pass the crowd in the hallway towards the private room. Reaching his destination, Alfonso looked around and was pleased to see the agent he has shot hours ago alone in his room.

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

_Alfonso looked around and was pleased to see the agent the he has shot hours ago alone in his room. _

Smiling to himself, Alfonso took a step forward as he raised his hand, reaching for the doorknob.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open. JJ rushed forward with gun raised up to the front. "FBI"

Alfonso was taken aback and tried to take diversion but was caught guard when he saw Morgan and two other agents standing behind him on each side with the barrel of gun pointed towards his face.

"You have some unfinished business to deal with, Alfonso?" Morgan asked sarcastically before he moved forward and forcefully handcuffed the man responsible for his best friend's condition.

Morgan shoved Alfonso harshly on the wall, before he used his muscular hands to strangle Alfonso.

"Derek!" JJ hissed, clearly shocked by Morgan's sudden outburst. She reached out and pulled Morgan's hands from Alfonso's throat just in time.

Alfonso's leg gave out and he crashed onto the floor, gasping for breath.

Morgan sat on his heels in front of Alfonso, matching his height. "You're lucky you still alive."

Alfonso coughed, his throat cried out in pain. His hands struggled with the handcuff, it was desperate to free itself, to reach to his throat, to massage it.

Morgan forcefully gripped a fistful of Alfonso's shirt, before raising him up and pushed him to the other agents behind him.

"Get him out of my sight." Morgan growled.

JJ watched as the agents walked Alfonso out before she reached forward and gently touched Morgan's shoulder.

"You saved him."

Morgan turned and his eyes stick to the view of Reid laying on the bed, with a tube to help him to breathe. "Not quite."

"Don't you ever doubt yourself." JJ warned in her motherly tone. "You figured this out."

"Just a lucky guess." Morgan shrugged.

"You have solved just in time, don't you think? It could have been a lot worse if it isn't not for you, Spencer could have died, and I could have been hurt."

Morgan remained silent, lost deep in his thought.

"Give yourself some credit, Derek."

"It's just not fair, JJ. I mean it was just months ago he was shot in the neck."

"I know." JJ whispered. JJ was about to continue, but dropped the idea when her phone buzzed.

"It's Rossi." JJ informed before she spoke.

"Hey … Yeah, everything is fine, we got him. How about Jack? Thank God, okay … see you in a while."

"What happened?" Morgan asked.

"They got Daniel." JJ smiled. "They also diffused the bomb. Jack is doing just fine, just a little shaken."

"Oh, thank god!" Morgan let his breath out.

"They are on the way to the hospital. Hotch wants Jack to be checked up, just in case and then others, you know they wouldn't go back without seeing Reid."

"JJ, why don't you go back? Just go back home, hug you boys … that's the best thing …"

"I can do after all that had happened today." JJ finished Morgan's sentences. "I know."

Morgan looked at JJ and he knew something was bothering her when he saw tears in the corner of her eyes.

"What am I supposed to tell Henry about Spencer?"

"Hey, come here." Morgan said before he enveloped JJ into a hug. "It's going to be okay."

"He always find out, all the time Spence gets hurt, he just knows." JJ buried herself in Morgan's hug.

"What do you expect?" Morgan smiled a little, as he rubbed JJ's back. "They have a very strong bond between them."

-CM-CM-CM-

Morgan walked back in after successfully sending JJ back home. Morgan walked closer to Reid, puffed out the breath he was holding as he held the railing of Reid's bed.

"Jack's okay." Morgan said, he knew Reid would want to hear those words. Morgan reached out and took Reid's hand carefully, not to disturb the oximeter attached to his finger. He lightly squeezed Reid's hand and mentally begged for a squeeze in return.

The next hour was the toughest of all. There were two things that Morgan hates, one; when Reid gets hurt and two; when Garcia cries.

It took a lot of efforts to console her and worst of all occurred when he had asked her to go back home. Thanks to Nurse Amy, for saving the situation. Only one person was allowed to stay back with the patient. Garcia halfheartedly went back home and promised to back early in the morning tomorrow with decoration to brighten Reid's room.

-CM-CM-CM-

"Hey." Morgan whispered, bringing Hotch back into reality. "How is Jack?"

"The doctor is checking, just to be sure. Jessica is with him."

After a moment of silence, "This is the worse, Morgan." Hotch said with his eyes fixed on Reid.

"It could have been a lot worse."

Hotch looked at Morgan. "Look at him, Morgan. How could you say that this is not the worse?" Hotch argued in a low voice.

"Both Jack and Reid could have died, but none of that happened, so this still is not the worse."

"Jack has been asking for Reid ever since they took the bomb of him."

"Take him back home tonight, Hotch. Today was just too much for him. All his questions can wait for tomorrow."

"Can you give us a minute?" Hotch asked.

"I heard the chocolate pudding in the cafeteria is nice." Morgan patted Hotch's back before he walked out of the room.

Hotch smiled a little before he looked back to Reid.

"I just want to say thank you, Reid." Hotch stroked his thumb on the back of Reid's hand.

"I know you would probably wake up and blame yourself for what had happened, but don't you dare, don't you dare to blame yourself."

"Because if you do …" Hotch inhaled before he continued. "Then I should blame myself, because if I didn't ask you to take Jack out for lunch, none of this would have happened in the first place."

"I trusted you, still do and the trust will always remain the same."

Hotch squeezed Reid's hand. "Just come back to us, Reid." Hotch blinked his eyes, and his tears dropped down on the back on Reid's hand.

Almost instantly, Hotch felt it, it was too light, but Hotch felt Reid's hand returning his squeeze.

"Reid?" Hotch called.

Hotch smiled when tears leaked out of Reid's closed eye lid, rolling its way to the side. Hotch reached over and wiped the tears.

Perhaps Morgan was right, this was not the worst of all.

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

Nurse Amy walked pass few others in the hallway to the private room and saw Agent Morgan walking back and forth with his hands on his hips in front of the room, immersed in his thought.

"I heard a lot happened during my break time." Amy voice startled Morgan.

Morgan stopped in front Amy with arms crossed across his chest. "Yeah, but everything is under control."

"I heard about that too."

Morgan smiled in return. "You are here all the time, is there anything I should worry about?

"Oh, no." Amy quickly took pressure off Morgan's shoulder. "Usually after major surgery, we keep an eye on the patient to monitor their progress."

"When do you think he will wake up?"

"Some people wake up an hour or two after surgery, but most take longer."

"I guess he falls in the most category."

"Don't worry, Agent Morgan, your friend has been showing good progress so far. Wait, I got something for you." Amy said before she walked away.

Morgan raised his eyebrows, not knowing was Amy was up to but however waited patiently for her to return.

"I am not tired." Morgan said when he saw Amy walking back with a pillow and blanket in her hands.

"Says the man who walks like eighty years old and did you realize that you have already yawned twice?" Amy pushed the pillow and blanket towards Morgan chest.

"I am perfectly capable of staying awake for another couple of hours."

"Go and sleep, Agent Morgan. I will wake you up if anything changes." Am motioned towards the couch at the corner of the room. "That couch is quite comfortable."

"Thanks and it's either Derek or Morgan."

"You're welcome, Derek."

-CM-CM-CM-

Hotch stroked his thumb over Haley's photo. "I am sorry for what had happened today. I know you were watching over him. I won't let anything happen to Jack. I promise."

"Daddy?" Jack called, leaning on the doorframe.

Hotch placed the photo frame back on his nightstand.

"Can I sleep with you, Daddy?" Jack asked as he held his favorite blanket against his chest.

"Of course, Jack. Come here." Hotch called as he patted on the bed beside him.

Almost immediately Jack ran in, he jumped into Hotch's lap and wrapped his hands around his father's neck. "I thought I would never see you again."

"Hey…" Hotch whispered. "It's all okay now." Hotch continued to whisper assuring words in Jack's ears as he kept Jack warn in his hug.

"Is Uncle Spencer going to be alright?"

Hotch could feel Jack shaking in his arms. "They shot him!"

"Buddy…" Hotch held as such he could face his son.

"It happened so fast." The boy said. "There's nothing I could do."

"Jack, it's not your fault." Hotch reassured him. "Jack, look at me, buddy."

Jack looked at his father with his little hands still clinging to his father.

"Sometimes, things don't turn out in the way we want, but that doesn't mean we can give up."

Hotch resumed. "Uncle Spencer is going to take some time to get better."

"But he will be okay, right?"

Hotch nodded. "You know Uncle Spencer doesn't give up."

"Can we go see him tomorrow?"

"We can." Hotch ran his fingers through Jack's hair. "But he might not be awake."

"Can I read for him, then?"

"I think he will love it."

-CM-CM-CM-

Hotch pushed the door open and entered into the room filled with nothing but the beeping of the machine. Hotch couldn't hide his smile when he saw Morgan sleeping peacefully on the couch. He walked over and picked up the blanket on the floor and covered it on Morgan. Morgan mumbled something to himself before he turned to his side and resumed sleeping.

Hotch walked back to Reid's bed and was about to push few strands of hair of Reid's forehead when he saw Reid's eye balls moving uncontrollably under its closed lids.

Hotch hurriedly pressed the button and held Reid's hands.

"Reid, it's okay. It's safe." He assured and slightly squeezed it to show his support.

Almost instantly, Reid's eyes opened, blinking rapidly, looking lost.

Hotch touched the side of Reid's head and allowed his face to fill Reid's vision.

"Reid, you're in the hospital."

"Ho…tch." Reid slurred.

"Yes, it's me."

"Jack?"

"He's okay. He's at home, safe. We got him back." Hotch hurriedly assured again.

"Hmp." Reid mumbled to himself, before he closed his eyes and drifted off.

-CM-CM-CM-

Morgan yawned as he rubbed his eyes with his knuckles. He stretched himself, he could feel each and every single part of his muscles screaming in exhaustion.

Morgan kept laying lazily on the couch, as he glanced over to Reid's bed. Morgan kicked himself up, into sitting position as fast as lighting when his eyes fell on Reid. Morgan checked his watch and realized he had slept more than he had expected.

"Had a good sleep?"

Morgan jerked upon hearing the sudden voice. "Hotch, what are doing here?" Morgan yawned before he continued. "It's still early."

"I thought I would stop by."

Morgan leaned on the couch, grab a water bottle from the table beside him before he gulped down few mouthful of water to satisfy his thirst.

"You should be at home with Jack."

"He's still asleep. Jessica is with him. I thought I would stop by before Jack wakes up."

Morgan moved the curtain to aside to allow the ray of sunlight to brighten the room.

"He was awake a while ago."

"Who? Reid?" Morgan asked, turning to face Hotch.

"Yes, but not for long."

"What did the doctor said?" Morgan asked for more information.

"He's breathing on his own. Other than that, his vitals seem stronger than yesterday."

"Good, good." Morgan mumbled to himself.

Hotch checked his watch. "If you want to go back and have a quick shower, I could cover for you."

Morgan did some mental calculation and agreed. "I will be back in a while."

-CM-CM-CM-

Morgan packed some essential things and hurried back to the hospital.

"What happened?" Morgan asked, panicked when he saw Hotch standing outside and looking into the room.

Hotch said nothing, but pointed towards the room.

Morgan stood beside Hotch and peeked into the room. Morgan's lips curved into a smile when he saw Jack laying on his stomach, on Reid's bed, reading a book.

"Jessica had to bring him, she said she had no choice."

Morgan chucked. "I am not surprised. He's stubborn as his father."

"Did you just say I'm stubborn?"

"Just enjoy the moment, Hotch." Morgan motioned towards Jack, reading to Reid.

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello, everyone. **

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

Jack closed the book he was reading and exhaled in disappointment when his vision was greeted by Reid's closed eyelids.

'I am sure, Uncle Spencer would have loved it and that was his favorite book." Morgan said as he walked in with Hotch closely beside him.

However, Hotch realized the discomfort in Jack's face. "What's wrong, buddy?"

Jack hesitated for a moment before he opened his mouth. "Uncle Spencer didn't move even an inch the whole time I was reading to him."

"Buddy," Hotch spoke in a soft voice. "Uncle Spencer is a little hurt and his body is taking all the rest it can so that he can recover quickly."

"What if he doesn't wake up at all?" The little boy asked, with his face down.

Hotch opened his mouth to say something, however, he kept quiet. He was still unable to grasp the real impact of Reid's condition on Jack.

"Come here, Jack." Morgan stretched his hands to Jack.

Hotch raised his eyebrows in confusion not knowing what was his fellow agent was up to, however, he remained silent as he has strong faith in Morgan.

Morgan quickly took the boy around his hip and walked to the other side of Reid's bed. Morgan dropped Jack carefully beside Reid. Still holding Jack safely around his left arm, Morgan with his right hand, gently pulled down Reid's hospital gown from the neck, revealing his chest, half pale and half bandaged. Carefully, Morgan guided Jack to lie as Jack's ear on Reid's chest.

"Tell me what you hear." Morgan said.

With his ear to Reid's chest, Jack looked at Morgan. "Heartbeat." The boy answered.

"Is it a strong one?" Morgan asked again.

Jack continued to hear Reid's heartbeat for another one moment before he replied. "It is."

"Then, I can highly assure you that Uncle Spencer is going to be just fine."

"Wake up soon, Uncle Spencer." Jack said before he bend down and kissed Reid's cheek.

Hotch's heart almost melted watching the scene in front of him. Deep down, Hotch knew Jack has a long way to go before he can bounce back to his normal life. Hotch also knew somehow Reid's condition brought back Jack's worst nightmare, Haley's death.

Morgan picked the boy up and lowered him down to the ground. He looked back to his boss. "I grew up with three women in my life. I know a couple of things."

"Thanks, Morgan." Hotch said genuinely.

"And I thought I was early."

Both Hotch and Morgan turned around saw Rossi standing at the door.

"Hi, Uncle Dave." Jack waved, standing beside his father.

"Hi, tough guy." Rossi smiled before he tossed the paper bag he was holding to Morgan.

Morgan caught it in time and by the smell he knew. "Breakfast." Morgan mumbled. "You're the best, Rossi."

"Tell me something I didn't know."

Morgan chuckled before he went backwards and crashed lazily on the couch before he took a bite of the homemade sandwich.

"I just realized that I didn't thank you for what you did." Hotch said, looking at Rossi.

Rossi asked. "What for?"

"You took the lead of the situation, handled it better …"

Rossi stopped before Hotch could continue. "We all have our tough moments, Aaron. God knows how it would have been if it was my daughter there. So, let's just hope everything just turns up well."

"Yeah." Hotch whispered. "We're going to head out. Jack hasn't had his breakfast yet."

"Oh, there's a good Italian restaurant opposite the street." Rossi suggested.

Jack gripped his father's hand. "I don't want to go any shop."

"It's okay, Buddy." Hotch reassured his son. "We're going to just go home, okay? Jessica said she is going to cook your favorites."

Hotch nodded towards his team members before he walked out the room.

Rossi exhaled. "It's going to take some time for Jack. How's our kid doing?" Rossi asked as he walked closer to Reid's bed.

"He's breathing on his own, his vitals are strong. He's going to be okay."

"He better be." Rossi said before he looked at Reid. "Hey, kiddo." Rossi whispered as he gently touched Reid's hand.

"How come the room doesn't have Garcia's touch, yet?"

Morgan chuckled again. "She's shopping."

"Still?" Rossi asked, surprised.

"You don't want to know that."

-CM-CM-CM-

Reid blinked his eyes a few times to avoid the blurry vision. He didn't know if he should be happy about owning eidetic memory. All that had happened flooded his memory and inch by inch he remembered everything.

"Babygirl." Morgan's voice brought Reid's out his thoughts.

Reid moved his head slightly and looked at the best friends. Both were standing with their back facing Reid.

"We already have too much balloons on the wall, one more and I pretty sure the management is going to sue us." Morgan continued as he stood on a chair.

Reid rolled his eyes around the room and it hardly looked like a hospital room. If it isn't for the machines and nurses passing by outside, Reid would have thought he's been in some fancy room.

His lips curved in a smile when he thought about the care and love his friends showering on him.

"Well, I don't care, and besides…" Garcia turned and dropped all the decorative items she was having in her arms when she saw Reid's brown eyes staring at her.

"Reid!" Garcia squeaked in high pitch.

Reid smiled when he saw Morgan almost tripped of the chair by Garcia's sudden outburst.

Before even Reid could register anything, Garcia was right beside him, holding his hand.

Reid tried to gather all the energy possible to open his mouth, to address his friends, but he felt as if he had swallowed sand.

"Take it easy, Kid." Morgan gently touched Reid's shoulders. "That includes talking as well, they just took out the ventilator today, so don't force yourself."

"Here, take a few sips." Garcia said as she brought the glass of water with straw near his mouth.

Reid took few sips and moaned in relief as the cold water chilled his dried throat.

"It's going to take some time, but you're going to be okay, Reid." Garcia smiled in relief as tears of joy rolled her cheeks.

Gathering all the strength available to him, Reid raised his unharmed hand and wiped her tears off.

Garcia quickly held Reid's hand, afraid if Reid had any energy left to bring his hand back down beside him. She placed his hand back on the bed before she pulled the blanket up to his chest.

Pressing a kiss to Reid's forehead, Garcia whispered softly, "We will always be there for you."

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

"What did the doctor say?" Kate asked, leaning against the door frame.

"One hell of a fighter." JJ answered, slightly smiling as he held Reid's unconscious hand, before pressing a kiss on his forehead.

"Come on, we already know that." Rossi said. "The kid is tougher than he looks."

"Guys, seriously, how is he doing?" Kate asked another time.

"Good, his body seems to adjust just fine with the surgery." Morgan answered, lying down on the couch.

"I heard you said he was awake yesterday, Garcia." JJ said.

"Yes." Garcia was smiling. "We turned around and he was just staring at us."

Rossi chuckled. "I hope he didn't freak out with the decorations."

Garcia just gave him one serious look and Rossi was back to his magazine.

"Since all of us are here, Morgan, why don't you go back home and sleep in a real bed?" Hotch asked from the chair beside the bed.

"Thanks for the offer, this couch is quite comfortable."

"Look, I know this is a tough situation for all of us," Hotch looked at everyone in the room. "But I want everyone's head to be clear, Reid needs us when he wakes up." With that, Hotch looked at Rossi and nodded.

Rossi took the hint. "Well, right now, I could use some coffee, anyone else?"

"Rossi buying, of course, I'm in." Kate walked out of the room.

"I will pass." Morgan said, with his eyes closed.

"Come on Garcia." JJ ushered Garcia out, leaving Reid alone with Morgan and Hotch.

Hotch stood up, took a quick glance at peacefully sleeping Reid before he walked to Morgan. Lying on the couch with his eyes closed, Morgan has his hands crossed against his chest.

Hotch quickly stuck his hand into Morgan's pocket and took the one item he needed to confront Morgan with.

"Hotch!" Morgan hissed in a lower tone. "What the hell?"

"You tell me, Morgan." Hotch kept his look fixed on Morgan. "You don't walk around with the bullet that went through Reid in your pocket.

"None of your business." Morgan tried to snatch it back but Hotch was quicker. Hotch shoved Morgan back on the couch.

"What's hurting you, Morgan?" Hotch kept his voice down.

When he didn't get any response, Hotch took a seat beside Morgan.

"Helplessness." Morgan let out a shaky breath.

Hotch waited, not wanting to press Morgan even further.

"I was so scared that Reid wasn't going to make it." Morgan admitted.

"All of us was scared too, Morgan."

Morgan turned his face away from Hotch, not wanting his boss to know the real emotions flooding inside him.

However, Hotch understood. "You were scared … because … you thought …"

"Don't do it, Hotch." Morgan warned.

Yet, Hotch continued. "That Reid would leave you just like your father did."

Honestly speaking, Hotch expect a punch from Morgan the moment he finished his words, but when Morgan still kept his face away from Hotch, he knew how the whole situation was hurting Morgan.

"I know …" Hotch resumed after a few moments. "Reid and you share a special bond. He is the closest you have to a brother. Hurting inside, alone is not going to help you."

Hotch took Morgan's hand and placed the bullet back on his palm. "Use it to remind you what you still have, not what you have lost."

"I am going to head out the cafeteria and when you're done with your minute alone with Reid, I want you to join and eat something, that's an order."

Hotch patted Morgan's back before he walked out of the room, leaving Morgan alone with Reid.

Morgan looked at the bullet in his palm before he looked at Reid. Hotch was right, he was always right.

-CM-CM-CM-

Reid's eyes fluttered open to see a bleary grinning face smiling down on him.

'You're going to scare me if you keep staring like that" Reid mumbled.

"Me?" Morgan chuckled. "Can't help it, do you realize that you, my friend has been sleeping for past fourth eight hours?"

"Damn drugs."

"Now, you're starting to scare me, should I call the doctor?"

"I love you too, Morgan."

"I … I'm going to call the doctor right away." Morgan has an odd questioning look coated over his face before he walked out of the room.

Reid smiled to himself, if only Garcia had seen Morgan's face.

"Hello, Dr. Reid." A voice of a young doctor interrupted his thoughts. "My name Dr. Scott. I heard you're awake. How're you feeling?"

"Slightly better."

"Good." The doctor hung back his stethoscope around his neck after checking Reid "Do you remember what happened?"

"Hit by a truck." Reid answered. "I think I was shot too."

"Yes, you were. We took a bullet out which was stuck in between your ribs after it went through your lungs and your heart."

Reid mentally imagined as the doctor spoke. "Quite a journey."

"Other than that, you have a broken leg, concussion, which is healing, sprained wrist, two cracked ribs and some severe bruising across your body."

Reid exhaled as slowly as possible, not to show any discomfort.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but I am telling you now, so you would be well prepared for what to expect."

"What do I do now?" Reid whispered.

"Your body is on the right track for its recovery. Rest is what you need right now, a lot of them." The doctor walked forward and set the bed in a semi sitting position. "This should help you better."

"Don't push yourself, your sternum is still healing, we don't want to cause any discomfort to that. We have some strict regulations that you need to follow, but we will worry about it later."

"Thank you." Reid said.

"You're welcome. Take it slowly, one step at one time. Call me if you need anything." Dr. Scott was almost out of the room before he turned back to Reid. "I forget to tell you something."

Reid raised his eyebrows, waiting for his doctor to continue.

"You have one good family."

Reid smiled. "The best."

**Have a nice day.****Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

"That's it. I'm going in."

"Hold on, Agent." Dr. Scott caught Morgan's elbow just in time before he could barge inside Reid's room. "Amy is doing exactly what she needs to do."

Morgan turned around with hands on his hips. "Looks like one of your nurse is about to kill my friend."

Dr. Scott chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Morgan raised his eyebrows.

"First all of all, Amy is helping Dr. Reid, not trying to kill him."

Morgan peeked inside the room to steal a look before he turned back to Dr. Scott. "How on earth do you say that is helping?"

"What Amy is actually guiding Dr. Reid to do is deep breathing and coughing exercises. It's important to learn these as it helps to lower the risk of lung complications after surgery."

"Complications? What complications?"

"After surgery, we tend to take shallow breaths because of pain by limited mobility, but our lung tissues which consists of the air sacs are fully expended during normal breathing. The shallow breaths may cause phlegm to stay in the lungs and collapse the air sacs."

"So, coughing brings out phlegm is there is any in his lungs?"

"Yes. I have heard a rattling sound when he was breathing deeply, so I ordered for coughing exercise and turned out I was right too." Dr. Scott finished as he nudged Morgan to look into the room.

Morgan brought his eye sight towards the room and saw as Amy rubbed Reid's back, he coughed quite an amount of phlegm to the basin Amy was holding.

"I am sorry for shooting many questions, I don't know much of medical stuff and the last thing I want is, him to suffer."

Dr. Scott smiled. "Don't worry about that. I bet the exercise is going to knock him out. I will check on him later."

"Thank Doc." Morgan whispered before he walked in.

-CM-CM-CM-

"There, this should be more comfortable." Amy said as she lowered Reid back down, to lie on his bed.

Reid simply nodded, too tired even to whisper.

"Well …" Amy continued, however, stopped and turned around to have a look when she heard the door being open. She smiled when she saw Morgan. "You are good hands now."

"Derek." Amy acknowledged Morgan, before she walked out the room. "Have a nice day you two."

Reid smiled warmly, looking at Morgan.

"How are you feeling?" Morgan asked, as he pulled the chair closer the to bed.

"I will survive and you have to stop scaring the doctor off."

Morgan chuckled.

"I swear Morgan, one of these days, the hospital is going to sue you for your unprofessional emotion management."

"Who's having a management issue here?" Hotch asked as he entered with Jack beside him.

"Uncle Spencer." Jack called happily.

"Hi, Jack." Reid whispered. He mentally thanked himself for being alert, Reid never wanted to be unconscious whenever the boy comes to visit him.

"Hi, guys." Morgan nodded towards Hotch before he gave a high five to Jack.

"Uncle Spencer, you're awake."

"Yes, I am." Reid answered before he turned to Morgan. "Morgan, can you help me to sit up?"

"Kid, you're supposed to take a nap now."

Morgan and Reid stare at each other for one moment before Morgan accepted his defeat. "Okay, but you still have to take your nap later."

"You're sure you are up for it, Reid?" Hotch asked as he helped Jack to sit beside Reid on the bed.

"Yeah, don't worry." Reid assured. "I have my angle reading for me while I fall asleep, what can be better than that?"

Jack smiled shyly, before he began to read. "There was once ….."

-CM-CM-CM-

Garcia mentally checked the items she has packed as she walked down the hallway. Just as she entered the room, Garcia gasped before she dropped all the bags she was holding.

"Oh …my …"

"I knew that would be your reaction." Morgan whispered from the room.

"Isn't that adorable?" Garcia squeaked before she frantically searched for her phone from her bag.

"Babygirl, just relax. I don't think both are going anywhere soon."

"I know, but this is just a bundle of cuteness." Garcia said as she snapped few pictures of Jack sleeping, his head resting on Reid's shoulders with one of his hands against Reid's chest. Reid, on the other hand, has his hand protectively around Jack's waist while his head slightly bend towards Jack's side, with his cheek touching Jack's hair.

"Pen, what happen?" Morgan asked when he saw all the bubbly and hyperactive Garcia, suddenly having tears on her cheeks and he knew those were not tears of joys.

Garcia quickly walked out of the room and Morgan followed her closely.

"So, you're going to tell me?" Morgan asked quietly as he sat beside Garcia outside Reid's room.

Garcia sighed. "Did you see the smile on Reid's face?"

Morgan smiled. "He likes Jack reading for him."

"Because it reminds him how his mother used to read for him."

Morgan exhaled loudly. "Yeah."

"We need to do something, Derek."

"Do what?" Morgan raised his eyebrows, not getting Garcia's point.

"Add something to Reid's life."

"Garcia…"

"Tell me you don't agree with me." Garcia spoke with motherly tone. "Come on Derek, we all have something in our life, you have Savannah, I have Sam, JJ and Kate has a beautiful family, well, Rossi has his own set of things, and Reid …what does he has?"

"Sweetie, I know where you're going …but he is not ready to move from Maeve, you know that."

"I know, but he deserves all the happiness out there, he deserves to sleep hugging his own kids, have the most beautiful girl to hold his hands and to lean on his shoulders."

"Garcia, we can't force him …"

"We don't have to force him." Garcia quickly said, "But we can persuade him …indirectly."

Morgan chuckled. "Penelope Garcia, what do you have exactly in your mind?"

"It depends on what you think about Amy?"

"Amy? Garcia …"

"She's sweet, nice and according to my dictionary, she is perfect for Reid."

"Garcia, we know nothing about her …wait, don't tell me you run a background check on her?"

"I just did some verification…" Garcia whispered like small kid caught while stealing.

"And what did your 'verification' tell you?"

"Enough to know that she is single and she takes good care of Reid."

"She is a nurse, Garcia. A very good nurse that takes good care of all her patients." Morgan specifically stressed the word 'all'

Garcia simply looked at Morgan and he knew she wouldn't give up no matter what.

"I don't know about this, women. He already has so much on his plate, Garcia, he has a long recovery ahead of him."

"That is why it is a good time." Garcia defended. "If he is going to stay here for some time, they might as well know each other, then, when he's good, he can ask her out."

"You do have a lot imagination going on your head, don't you?"

"Oh, come on … are you with me on this or not?"

Morgan peeked into the room and sighed. Reid was always like a brother to him, and he would anything for his family and from all his encounters with Amy, she seemed to be wonderful. Morgan turned back to Garcia.

"He's going to kill us if he knows about this."

**Have a nice day.****Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

_A couple of days later_

Amy was humming to herself as she filled her notes in the clipboard at the nurses' station. Amy rose her head up when she sensed someone waiting in front of the counter.

"Yes?" Amy automatically whispered as she raised her head towards the person in front of her, however Amy gasped and dropped her pen when she fully saw the person standing in front of her. "Doesn't seem to be a good day for you."

"Good morning to you." Morgan said.

"What happen to you?" Amy asked as she checked Morgan's bruised face. "Let me guess, not a very friendly … what you guys call them … unsub?"

"You can say that." Morgan winced when Amy touched the cut on Morgan's cheek.

"It's going to hurt for a couple of days." Amy said before she checked the bandage around Morgan's knuckles.

"Yeah, that's what the doctor said."

"Well then, I'm also sure the doctor would have told you to take rest for a few days."

"Yeah, that was included too."

"Then, what are you doing here?" Amy questioned.

"I was hoping that you could help me."

"Help you?" Amy raised her eyebrows, not understanding. "With what?"

"Reid doesn't react well when one of us gets hurt."

"Oh, you mean, he has the same way of reacting like you harassed us when he was in surgery?"

"What? I harass nobody." Morgan held up both his hands in surrender post.

Amy chucked. "I'm sure we can find a polite way to define those situation."

"Come on, Amy. I'm in one of the life-threatening situations here. "

"What can possibly go wrong in telling him that you got hurt on the job?"

"The thing is I was knocked in and out of consciousness for almost one day, which means I didn't call him, so he didn't know what happened and the others didn't tell him, so technically he's not going to react well when I barge in and stand with pretty much banged face and he just had his major surgery …"

"Oh, don't forget to breath in, man." Amy spoke in between. "Why do you need me for?"

"I need you to calm him down."

"Why should I? You're his best friend, I'm pretty sure you know how to calm him down better than me."

"Technically, you're his nurse, so you're responsible of his condition of health." Morgan argued.

Amy chuckled. "Don't tell me the kick ass, Derek Morgan is afraid of Spencer Reid."

"You do not want to mess with an MIT graduate."

"What? Come on, I don't understand a single thing you're telling me."

"Good, because you don't have to. Let's go."

"See, I wasn't wrong when I said you harass us."

"Let's go, I own you big time, okay?" Morgan said before he went behind Amy, held her shoulders and pushed her towards Reid's room.

"I'm definitely sticking to the word, harassing."

-CM-CM-CM-

"For a person with a painful cut on the cheek, you're definitely smiling a lot."

"What …" Ouch!" Morgan winced before his hand automatically touched his cheek. "It's not even been one minute I forget the pain and smiled, do you have ruined it by reminding me?"

Kate giggled before she took a few sips of her coffee. "That's what happen when you don't share with people what you're smiling about."

Morgan was about to reply when a squeak interrupted them.

"Chocolate Thunder, you're back! You're supposed to update me."

"Update about what?" JJ asked as she joined the group.

"Nothing." Both Morgan and Garcia said at the same time.

"Both saying the same thing at the same time." Rossi raised his eyebrows. "What're you guys up to?"

"Like I said, nothing." Garcia answered before she dragged Morgan with her.

"I have a feeling that something is going on…" Rossi mumbled with a smirk.

"Feeling about what?" Hotch walked by and stopped with his eyes still fixed on the file he was reading.

Hotch rose his head when he didn't hear any reply. "What?" Hotch asked as he looked back and forth between his remaining teammates. "What did I miss?"

-CM-CM-CM-

Morgan crashed on Garcia's couch before he stretched himself and laid lazily on the comfortable couch. "I still can't believe you used the crippled side of me as part of your plan."

"Oh, come on, Hot stuff, you're agreed."

"Well, I don't much choice, don't I?"

"Hush, enough about that already, now tell me what happen at the hospital."

"Well, I spoke to Amy just like the way you said, then …"

-CM-CM-CM-

"You're heading back, Amy?"

"Yes, Chris." Amy closed her locker before she hung her bag around her shoulders. "I can't wait to go back home, hug my pillows and sleep the rest of the night."

"I won't hold you anymore then, good night, Amy."

"Good night, Chris." Amy waved before she walked out of the room.

Amy walked passed each room, however, stopped in front of Reid's room. With a book spread open on his lap, Reid was deeply immersed in his thoughts as he kept staring outside the window.

"Spencer." Amy called gently as she walked in.

"Spencer!" Amy called again, a bit louder.

Reid jerked by the sudden voice. "Amy, sorry I didn't realize."

"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" Amy asked when she casually turned and saw the table beside Reid. "Spencer."

Reid rubbed his forehead. "Not sleepy."

"Spencer …" Amy called before she took the plastic pill box from the table. "You missed your pills …again."

"I … I must have forgot about it."

Amy sighed silently before she placed her bag on the end of the bed before she sat on the bed much nearer to Reid.

"I know you're lying."

Reid remained quiet as he avoided looking at Amy.

"I also know that you've been off for a couple days."

Reid maintained his silence as he played nervously with his blanket.

"You were hiding it from your team and I can say you're successful because none of them seem to notice the differences in you."

"I'm fine!" Reid snapped.

"I'm a nurse, Spencer. I know when patients missed their pills on purpose."

Amy continued "You have not been eating well, you rarely sleep and whenever people come to visit you, you pretend sleeping."

Reid looked at Amy.

"Spencer, I know I am nowhere near of knowing what you're going through."

Reid looked away, tears was threatened the corner of his eyes.

"But trust me when I say, I know how to make it better."

Reid turned towards Amy, tears rolled down his cheeks as he blinked his eyes.

"I don't know … I don't know how to do this anymore."

Amy smiled sadly. "I know … Just let me help you, okay?"

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello, everyone.**

**Extremely sorry for the delay.**** Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

Hotch practically jogged his way to the cafeteria. He knew that he was late, but he had no choice. His eyes scanned through the café and spotted Amy and Morgan sitting in the last table.

"Sorry, I'm late." Hotch apologized before he sat down beside Morgan.

"It's okay, Agent Hotcher." Amy said with her usual smile as she pushed the cup of coffee towards Hotch. "Luckily, the coffee is still hot."

"You said you have something to speak to us, Amy?" Morgan asked.

"Is something with Reid, Amy? Hotch questioned.

Amy smiled slightly, she always impressed by the love and care the team has on each other.

"No, but I hope it doesn't turn out bad in the future for him."

Morgan and Hotch exchanged a glance before they looked at Amy.

"I don't get you, Amy." Morgan said.

"He's beating himself up."

Hotch automatically sighed when he heard those words. Morgan on the other hand, took few sips of his coffee.

"What?" Amy asked. "You guys expected this?"

"It's Reid we are talking about, Amy." Hotch answered. "Reid is a very private person, he always has been taking care of himself and now for him to depend on us, is not going to be easy for him even though we are pretty much his family."

Amy thought for a moment if she should ask the question, but she couldn't hold herself. "I don't want to intrude his private space, but don't Spencer have any family member? I mean I didn't see anyone …I am sorry for asking this, but…"

"It's okay, Amy." Hotch smiled sadly. "It's not your fault."

"He has a dad who pretty much doesn't care."

Amy could the sense anger in Morgan's voice.

"Morgan…" Hotch warned.

"What? That man left Reid when he was just ten, don't tell me he cared."

Amy suddenly found herself in an awkward situation, so she decided to change the subject. "How about his mother and maybe someone else?"

"He has a loving mother, though." Morgan finally smiled a little. "But she's in Vegas and a little sick, she wouldn't be able to travel."

Hotch continued. "He doesn't have anyone else, it's just us."

Amy smiled a little. "You guys are very good friends."

"Family, actually." Morgan corrected her.

"So, Amy, what actually you wanted to tell us?"

"I spoke to Dr. Scott and we agreed that it would be better for him to be at home."

"Are we sure about this, Amy? It's just been a week since his surgery."

"Well, the usual length of hospital stay is just four to seven days. The most important thing is he has stable vital signs and a stable heart rhythm. He's been weaned off oxygen support, his blood lab results are within normal range and he's able to tolerate regular food. The only concern is he's not being able fully on his feet yet since his leg is broken."

"I know patient with open heart surgery will be directed to walk or to have small exercise right after they recover from the surgery, but Reid … Will his other injuries cause any trouble for him?" Hotch asked, concerned.

"Usually, patients are directed to exercise in order to prevent complications such as lung congestion like pneumonia or blood clots in legs and it is extremely important to exercise the muscles but don't worry, I have spoken to our physical therapist. Nick will see you guys and explain an exercise routine for Spencer to follow at home."

Amy checked her watch. "Do you guys have time, I might as well explain the things you guys need to watch out when Spencer comes home. Dr. Scott is having major surgery today, he asked me to debrief you guys about Spencer's condition."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Okay, I know it will be a lot to take in but if we stick to this, there are high changes for Spencer to have a steady and full recovery." Amy said as she passed papers to both Hotch and Morgan.

"What is this?" Morgan questioned as his eyes scanned through the wordings in the paper.

"Sometimes, we tend to forget things, so this will be your manual and you also have my number at the end, so call me the moment you think something is not right."

"Noted." Hotch said as he took his phone and saved Amy's number is his speed dial.

"First of all, instructions on sternal precautions, Spencer should not lift anything heavier than 10 pounds for six to eight weeks. He also cannot raise both arms over his head at the same time, and no bending at the waist. Does he have steps at his home?"

"He has to take steps in order to reach his apartment." Morgan answered.

"We don't have to worry about that because he's not going to stay in his apartment, he's going to stay with me."

"Are you sure, Hotch? He can stay with me." Morgan said.

"I think it would be better for him to stay with me right now. Spencer and Jack, they need each other to recover, but you're always welcome to sleep over, my couch is quite comfortable and besides, we will have Jessica to keep an eye on him if we are cough up with a case."

"I guess the issue about steps is resolved then. I also feel that if Spencer stays Jack, would be more healing for him. Okay, moving on to the next one, is the pain and it will hurt until his sternum heals. The chest bone is the slowest part of the healing process. It will hurt with every breath he takes, every sneeze he sneezes, every cough he coughs and every laugh he laughs. It will remain as such for six or so weeks and then it will gradually stop."

"It sounds horrible." Morgan whispers. "Won't he have pain meds for that?"

"He will but it's not good to rely on that. As soon as he gets rid of that, it would be great. I mean the pain meds will put him in a pain cycle. He takes it for the pain, he's going to be okay until it wears off, then it's going to hurt him again. I am not trying to support, nor am I recommending him not take pain medications, but it is crucial to slow down the amount of the pain drugs he take as quickly as possible because sometimes there are other side effects that slow down the healing process."

"I will keep that in mind. Thanks, Amy." Hotch said, gratefully.

"Make sure he rest often during the day, but at the same time, don't let him to have the habit of taking long naps because if so later, he will not be able to sleep the night through."

Both Hotch and Morgan nodded.

"Very important point, make sure he takes his medications as per instructions. Spencer might not have much of an appetite to eat, but it is necessary for you guys to make sure he sticks to the healthy diet as per attached in the manual.

"Will do." Hotch confirmed.

"Since his incision is healing just fine, quick showers, not longer than 10 minutes will do. Make sure the water temperature is warm, not too hot or cold. Wash his incision gently with soap and water, do not rub or scrub. It would be better to gently pat dry during the first week."

Amy inhaled before she continued. "No driving at least four to six weeks."

"Garcia is so going to baby him." Morgan mumbled.

"Lucky for you guys, I will be his visiting nurse, so I will be coming over to check up on him from time to time."

"Oh, that's the best news ever." Morgan smiled, knowing how much Garcia is going to be thrilled about Amy coming over.

"So, I think I have covered most of it, but make sure you guys go through the manual. It has all the details."

"When can we take him back home?" Hotch asked.

"As soon as you guys are ready, he is all yours."

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

**Few days later.**

"Spencer, do you need anything else?"

"No, Hotch. I think I got everything that I need."

Hotch smiled before he sat on the edge of the bed. "Spencer, please don't feel that you're giving me a trouble. If there is anything else you need …"

"I will call you. Promise."

"Hotch." Reid called again after a few moments of silence. "I know I have told you a million times, but I'm just not yet tired of telling it, thank you for taking care of me."

"You're welcome, Spencer. It's good to have you around. I can say Jack is enjoying it."

"Although you shouldn't have brought all my things here." Reid looked around and couldn't help to feel that he had given the team a little trouble of changing Hotch's guest room into his temporary room.

"Oh," Hotch chuckled. "That's all on Morgan. He said you wouldn't survive another day without your book collections."

"That's a lie. I survived one week in the hospital without my books."

"That's because you were drugged up most of time, Spencer."

"Hotch, there were certain things that I thought I would never experience in life." Reid continued.

"Like what?" Hotch asked, curious on what was Reid referring to.

"Like how it feels like to be taken care by family when you need them the most."

"Spencer."

Reid smiled sadly. "I never knew how it is feels like until now and I can't thank you enough for making me feel that in the end of the day, I do have a family that I can count on."

Suddenly, both were startled by the argument from the kitchen.

"Jeez, Morgan, you better follow my instructions before I whack your head with my spoon." They could hear Rossi yelling.

"The soup has enough salt already and besides, Pretty Boy can't have much salt in his food now."

"You do have a family, Spencer and currently the family are having fun fighting. Before both of them turn my kitchen into a war zone, I better get going." Hotch said before he walked to the door.

"Good luck with the peace talk." Reid encouraged.

Before Hotch could reach his hand to the knob, the door was burst opened with Jack running in with a prototype in his hands. "Uncle Spencer, check this out."

"Jack …" Hotch called.

"I finished my homework, took my bath just like I promised, so now, it's my time with Uncle Spencer." Jack argued.

"I know but Uncle Spencer need his rest too, so, don't keep him up for long, okay?"

Jack held up his hand. "Scout's honor."

"It's okay, Hotch." Reid defended. "I'm helping Jack with his Science project."

Jack turned back, climbed on the bed and sat beside Reid, "My teacher told me that …"

Hotch exhaled before he smiled as he walked out and closed the door. He walked straight to the kitchen and stopped. "What have you guys done to my kitchen?"

-CM-CM-CM-

Amy walked pass the others on the street, towards the particular destination. After double checking if she were at the right address, she walked up and pressed the calling bell.

The door was opened, revealing smiling Hotch.

"Good evening, Agent Hotcher. Sorry, I'm late, we keep getting patients today."

"It's okay, Amy. Come in."

Amy walked in and smiled when she saw both Morgan and Rossi in the kitchen, wearing an apron, immersed in cooking.

"Wow, I didn't know that the famous FBI team is good at cooking too."

"Hey, Amy." Morgan greeted.

"Buonasera, bella mia."

"Rossi." Morgan hit Rossi with the spoon "You don't use foreign language to any guest."

"He was saying 'good evening, my beautiful one', if that's what you wanted to know." Amy said.

"You know Italian, Amy? Hotch asked.

"A little."

"See." Rossi hits back Morgan in his arm.

Amy chucked. "Do they fight all the time?"

"You have no idea. Come on, I will take you to Spencer." Hotch accompanied Amy to the guest room.

Hotch knocked twice and when he heard the permission to enter, he walked in with Amy. "Spencer you have a visitor."

Amy walked pass Hotch, towards Jack. "Sorry little guy, I have to steal your Uncle Spencer for a while."

"It's okay, Dad said you will be here to check if Uncle Spencer is getting better."

"Jack, come on." Hotch called. "Let's go and help Uncle Dave and Uncle Morgan with the dinner."

"Okay." Jack closed the book. "We read again before bedtime, Uncle Spencer?"

"Of course, we can."

Hotch opened the door, allowing Jack to run out and just before he stepped out, he turned back to Amy.

"I hope you're not rushing after this."

"As in I have something important to do after this? No."

Hotch smiled. "Good, then you can stay for the dinner."

"Oh, no. I don't want to interrupt the family time."

"No, you won't and besides, Rossi's Italian cook is one the best."

"It would be great if you can stay, Amy." Reid said.

Looking back and forth toward Hotch and Reid, Amy finally said. "Okay, I guess."

"Great, I will set the table then." Hotch closed the door, leaving Reid and Amy alone.

"So, Spencer." Amy smiled. "How are you doing?"

"Better, although not fully better, hope that makes sense."

Amy smiled again. "Well, let's see how good you're getting."

Just when Amy sat on the bed and closer to him, Reid felt a little shiver down his spine and it got worse when he felt Amy's finger on his skin. Weird, he thought. Over the past week, in the hospital, Amy probably would have touched him more than any of his team members and he never felt anything but now, something has changed and his genius mind couldn't grasp it.

"Spencer."

Reid snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah?"

"I said I'm going to check your incision." Amy whispered before she unbuttoned his shirt.

"Looks like it's healing just fine. Your team is taking good care of you."

"Yeah." Reid whispered, still lost in his thought.

"So, you're going to tell me?" Amy asked as she buttoned his shirt back.

"About?"

"How things have been? Are you taking your medicine on time?"

"Do you really think I can sneak past Hotch without my medicine?"

"Good point."

"Things have been good. Jack keeps me busy most of the time, I have someone from the team almost all the time with me." Reid updated.

"I was asking about you, Spencer."

"I won't lie by saying I'm good, but I am getting there, and being here with them helps a lot."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Thank you, Amy, for everything."

Amy smiled in return and although he was used to the smile, he couldn't help to feel all warmed up with the smile.

He looked into her eyes and smiled a little. His newly rising undefined emotion blocked his high IQ and for the first time, he couldn't help to get worried about it.

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

Reid flipped the pages of the book he was reading. Anyone who has known his reading speed would have thought he was immersed in his usual reading routine, but funny, he wasn't actually reading but merely flipping the pages, why? He has no idea.

Tired of playing with the pages, Reid closed the book with a heavy sigh. Reid leaned his head onto the pillow and stared at the top, the white ceiling.

A knock on the door, brought Reid back to the reality, knowing Hotch would be behind the door, with his scheduled medicine, he quickly opened the book and after being all set as if he's enjoying the book, Reid said, "Come in."

"Thanks, Hotch." Reid mumbled, as he took the glass of water and pills from Hotch.

"I think I'm going to hit the bed early tonight." Hotch finished with a yawn.

"You should. I will try to get pass few more chapters before the medicine knock me over."

"Few chapters? You would finish the book by then." Hotch smiled. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Reid closed the book again when Hotch walked out.

-CM-CM-CM-

True to his words, Reid was off for the night, special thanks to his medicine. However, Reid was jerked awake when he heard the scream down the hallway, followed by a thud and the sound of people running.

Reid didn't need his 187 IQ to know that it was Jack's scream, battling with his nightmare and Hotch running to the room console his son.

Reid, with a hand in his chest, slowly pushed himself up to lean against the pillow. Slightly, bending sideways, Reid turned the light on the nightstand.

Probably, half an hour later, his room door creaked open, revealing Hotch.

"Jack's okay?" Reid asked, barely a whisper.

Hotch walked in a little, with his hands in his pocket. "I manage to put him down again for the night."

"I am sorry, Hotch."

"It's not your fault he's having nightmare."

"I know." Reid remained silent for a few moments. "I know how hard it could be."

Hotch smiled sadly.

"What's his nightmare about?"

Hotch sat on the edge of the bed. "Him, being kidnapped … watching you being shot … being strapped to a bomb."

Reid was lost of words, not knowing how to console a father torn apart watching his son fighting to pass the night with a peaceful sleep.

"The worst part is that, he wants to know about his mother's death."

"I am sorry, Hotch." Reid apologized yet again.

"I can't hide the truth from him forever, can't I? Sooner or later, he will find out."

"Jack loves you, no matter what."

Hotch ran his fingers through his hair. "You should get some sleep, Spencer."

Reid leaned back on the bed when Hotch walked out, although he knew he might not sleep anytime soon.

-CM-CM-CM-

"Rise and shine!" Morgan said as he pushed the curtain aside, allowing the lively sunshine to brighten the room.

Reid groaned. "Morgan, close the damn curtain!" He pulled the blanket up, over his head.

"Derek Morgan, I freaking hate you." Reid hissed when his blanket was pulled over him.

"Didn't know waking you in the morning, can be so dangerous. Come on, show me those brown eyes."

Reid groaned again in frustration before looking at Morgan.

Morgan, however, flashed his bright smile. "Hotch has taken Jack out, its father and son day out. Which means it's just you and me today."

Morgan stood beside the bed, with his left hand behind his back and right hand on his front, Morgan bowed down in front of Reid. "Your Highness, I'm at your service!"

Reid with his sleepy eyes, looked at Morgan and whispered. "What a day!"

-CM-CM-CM-

Morgan knew something was bothering Reid and he also knew that's why Hotch had purposely made Morgan to spend some time alone with Reid. Not trying to brag about himself, but he knew he could touch Reid's soft spot rather than anyone in the team.

Morgan cleaned Hotch's kitchen, took a glass water, walked and stopped just behind the couch.

Morgan has helped Reid to settle in the living room, and his favorite Doctor Who episode was playing but Morgan knew Reid wasn't watching.

Morgan stepped forward, placed the glass on the table, took the remote, paused the show, and sat beside Reid, facing him.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Ermm …" Reid snapped out of his thought. "Nothing, I was just watching …" Reid pointed towards the television and realized that the show was paused.

"Busted to the maximum." Morgan mumbled, getting an annoyed look from Reid.

"Come on, Pretty Boy. Just you and me here and you know nothing gets passed this room."

Reid somehow calmed down hearing those words. Although Morgan drives him crazy his entire life and probably will do the same in the future, he knew deep down Morgan cares for him just like how a big brother would.

True to his words, Morgan leaned forward and gently placed his hands around Reid's shoulders. "What is it, buddy?"

"It's Jack."

Morgan remained silent, giving Reid space to open up himself.

"He keeps getting nightmares and there's nothing I could do about it. He's just a kid."

"I know."

"I just wish …" Reid inhaled. "Everything is just normal, the way it used to be, and it's freaking frustrating me because I know it wouldn't be."

"Your are right, it won't, not today, tomorrow or even the day after tomorrow, but it will, Reid ... one day."

Reid blinked twice, allowing the tears to roll down his cheeks.

Morgan had enough. He closed the gap, and gently he brought Reid into a hug. Slowly, as he rubbed Reid's back, "In case have you missed, Jack's nightmare has lessen ever since you're staying here."

Reid comes out of the hug, wiping his tears, he looked up at Morgan.

"Hotch told me, Jack used to have it every day, but now, it has lessened, just two to three times a week."

"Really?"

"You can ask Hotch yourself, if you want."

"Do you think there's anything else I can do about it?"

Morgan smiled a little, this is why he loves Reid more and more every day. "Kid, you are here, spending time with him, getting better day by day and letting him take care of you is more than enough right now."

"Thank you, Morgan. You know how to make me feel better."

"That …of course I do. I am gifted charmer." Morgan winked with a smile. "My majesty, is there anything else I can do for you?"

Reid shook his head. "If you play back the show, we could finish the episode."

"Yeah, back on the track." Morgan took the remote, pressed play and leaned onto the couch just beside Reid. "About the show, why the hell they named it Doctor Who?"

Reid groaned. "Shut up, Morgan."

-CM-CM-CM-

A few days later

"Good work, guys." Hotch said he took the crime scene picture off the board.

"Although I would admit, we could solve it sooner if Reid was here." Rossi said.

"Rossi did you just said that?" Garcia shoved her laptop in her bag.

"Nobody tells him that …." Rossi warned.

"Spence must have been bored without us." JJ said as she cleared the table.

"Lucky for us, we had Jessica, Will, and the best of all, Jack and Henry to keep an on eye on him."

"Come on, we know how tough the case was, they needed all hands on deck." Kate said.

"The jet …" Hotch said, but stopped when his phone buzzed.

"It's Jessica, probably Jack wants to say goodnight." Hotch said to his team before he took the phone. "Hello, Jessice … yes ….What? … Why? Okay, okay …keep me posted."

"Hotch, what's wrong?" Morgan quickly asked.

"It's Reid."

"What's wrong with Reid?" Garcia asked, stunned.

"I don't know." Hotch brushed his hand off his face in frustration. "Amy is rushing him back to the hospital."

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

Amy walked down the hallway to the nurse's station to grab a bite. Taking a slice of pizza offered by her fellow co-worker, Amy was surprised by the absence of her best friend. "Jamie, you have an idea where Christina is?"

"Aren't you guys are like twin sisters?"

Jamie chuckled when he saw Amy's lame expression. "She said she is stepping out to get you something."

Amy raised her eyebrows, in confusion.

"Amy, check this out." Christina appeared from the corner with two tickets in her hands.

Amy gasped. "You did not."

"Yes, I did." Christina smiled proudly. "Two tickets for the Avenger's premier show."

"Wow, can I join too?" Jamie asked.

"Sorry, big guy. It's ladies night out."

"You guys are so boring." Jamie whispered, before walking off to resume his duty.

"Christina Sanders, you're the best."

"Am I not?"

The girls shared a giggle together when Amy's phone buzzed. "Hello, yes, this is Amy. Ma'am, please do not panic. I'm on my way. Hang tight."

Christina knew something was wrong when she saw the change in Amy's facial expression. "Amy, what happened?"

"It's Spencer. They think something is wrong with him. I got to go, babe."

"Here, take my car." Christina tossed her car key just in time before Amy was about to run. "Drive safely."

-CM-CM-CM-

Amy pressed the calling bell and waited anxiously outside and she would have probably kicked down the door if it wasn't opened.

"Hai, Amy. I'm the one called you. I'm Jessica."

"Hello, Agent Hotcher have told me about you. What happened?" Amy asked as she moved pass Jessica and practically jogged her way to Spencer's room.

"His body was just a little warmer than usual last night, but today, he had cough, fever, chills, and when finally trouble breathing, that's when I thought I should call you."

Within seconds, Amy was on the edge of the bed. Reid looked flushed and paler than usual. Amy knew Reid was having a fever by the warmth of his skin, but she checked it anyways to know how high it was. A few moments later, the thermometer beeped. "100.4 ºF," Amy read to herself, "Not good."

"Hey, Spencer, can you breathe in?" Amy asked as she checked his breathing rhyme with her stethoscope. "Okay, doesn't sound good, either."

"Amy …" Reid slurred with his hand on his chest. "It …hurts."

"Jessica, call 911, now."

Amy turned back to Reid and tried to remain calm as usual. "Spencer, I know it hurts, just hang on, okay?"

"Ambulances on the way, do you know what's wrong with him?" Jessica asked, worried.

"Yes, but we need further tests to know how serious it is. Where are the others?"

"They got called for a case, I tried calling, and they didn't pick up, maybe in the middle of kicking door."

"Try again." Amy said before she ran forward to guide the EMT's to the room.

"In here, guys. His name is Dr. Spencer Reid, former patient …."

Jack got down from his friend's car and was taken aback to see an ambulance in front of his house. He knew instantly something was wrong with Spencer. Jack dashed inside the house and stopped dead at the entrance of his favorite uncle's room. "What's wrong with Spencer?"

Jessica turned to see Jack standing with the Science prototype in his hands. "Oh, honey …"

Amy turned back after giving EMT's sufficient information. "I'm going to ride with them. Do you think you can ride my car to the hospital?"

"Yes." Jessica took the car key.

Amy kneed down to Jack's height. "Hey, buddy. I know you're worried, but I am going to make him feel better just like always."

"Okay." Jack whispered, his voice shook a little. "I won the Science fair," Jack showed the medal he was holding in the other hand.

Amy smiled sadly. "We take Uncle Spencer to the hospital, make him better and you can tell him all the stories about you winning the Science fair, okay?"

Amy didn't get a chance to wait for any answer when the EMT's spoke. "Ma'am, we have to get going."

-CM-CM-CM-

_"I don't know." Hotch brushed his hand off his face in frustration. "Amy is rushing him back to the hospital."_

"Still no news?" Morgan asked. Just like the others, he was frustrated, worried and upset. Not to delay any longer, they took the jet back earlier than scheduled.

Hotch kept his phone in his hands. "No, Jessica is still in the waiting room."

"What can be possibly be wrong with him now?" Garcia was on the edge of shedding tears. "He was recovering just fine."

"I don't know, Garcia." Hotch shook his head. "He even volunteered to help with case two days ago, but I turned him down, knowing he would strain himself, especially when none of us are there with him."

"Guys, I know it's driving us nuts here, not knowing what's wrong with him, but let's just keep it positive, okay?" Rossi said, bringing the discussion to an end.

-CM-CM-CM-

Once landed, the team reached the hospital in record breaking time.

"Dad." Jack jumped off the seat and hugged his father. "It's okay, buddy." Hotch consoled his son.

"Any news yet?" JJ asked.

"Yes, but Dr. Scott said he would wait for you guys to arrive."

"I'm on the right time, I guess."

The team turned at once and saw Dr. Scott standing.

"How is he doing?" Hotch asked, immediately.

"He is resting as we speak. If you ask the reason why he's back to the hospital, then its pneumonia."

"Pneumonia?" Morgan asked. "You're kidding me?"

"I'm afraid I'm not, Agent Morgan. Pneumonia can be very serious and can cause death."

"How come now? He was fine." Kate questioned.

"Most infections occur in about two weeks after surgery, Pneumonia is the most common serious infection after heart surgery, with many after hospital discharge." Dr. Scott explained.

"Is he going to be okay?" Rossi asked, concerned.

Dr. Scott looked a little hesitated which made the others anxious.

"What are you not telling us, Doc?" Morgan asked, afraid of his own voice.

Dr. Scott exhaled. "People who have heart or lung surgery are prone for complication of pneumonia and I'm afraid Dr. Reid is facing one of its."

"What kind of complication are we speaking?"

"Complications of pneumonia include pleural effusion and bacteria in the bloodstream. Pleural effusion is when fluid builds up in the layers of tissue between the lungs and the wall of the chest and becomes infected. This can make breathing very difficult. To drain the fluid, a tube may need to be placed between the lungs and chest wall, or final option, surgery. Bacteria in the bloodstream occur when the pneumonia infection in your lungs spreads to your blood. This increases the risk that the infection will spread to other organs in your body."

"Please tell me it's treatable." JJ said.

"For now, we have not seen any sign of pleural effusion, which is a good thing, but unfortunately there is bacteria in his bloodstream, so we have hooked him up with oxygen to help him to breathe and antibiotics through an IV. I would like to keep him in hospital for few days."

"Sure, thank you." Hotch said.

"Can we see him?"

"It's way pass visitation hours, so it has to be a quick one, but he might not be awake though. Follow me."

"It's okay, we just need to see him."

-CM-CM-CM-

Amy was carrying extra blanket and stopped at the entrances when she saw the room, crowded with the team.

"Walk them out in 10 minutes, okay?" Dr. Scott informed and walked away.

Amy nodded and stepped aside, given the team enough room.

"You know …" Christina said, appearing and standing beside Amy. "For the years I have known you, never seen you this panic before."

"Nurse's instinct I guess."

"Really? How many patients I have seen you handled? You should ask yourself again."

"Ask me what?"

Christine smiled. "Because I don't think … I believe there's something between you and him. I firmly believe that you are falling for him."

"Chris, no. I … I'm not." Amy shrugged.

"Who are you trying to convince here, Amy, me or yourself?"

**Have a nice day. Medical information was collected from American Lung Association. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes if there is any. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

Amy stepped inside the room after Christina left her with a disturbing question. "Guys, it's time for goodbyes."

Garcia squeaked a little by the sudden voice behind her. "Amy!"

In a friction of a second, before Amy could even blink her eyes, Garcia had Amy in her arms. "Thank you so much."

"Babygirl, you have to let her breathe."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Amy."

Amy gasped a little before she took a few intakes of air to regain her normal self. "It's okay."

"Jessica said you come on time and took care, so thank you, Amy."

"Guys, come on, enough with the thanks already." Amy said with a smile on her face and she didn't miss her tiredness plastered on everyone face.

"He's down for the night and won't be awake at least until morning. I am going to be here, so how about I keep an eye on him for the night and you guys have a peaceful sleep at home?"

"Amy, you are the best, dear." Rossi said, giving Amy a side hug.

"Are you sure?" Hotch reconfirmed.

"Go home."

With the final words from Amy, the others left the room silently, leaving Morgan the last to exit the room.

"I can assure you that Spencer is in good hands."

"I know." Morgan said, giving Amy a smile. "He keeps scaring me out."

"Well, I can say maybe this would be the last one."

"I really hope so."

"Go home, Derek. Get some sleep."

"Yes, Ma'am." Morgan gestured a salute before he walked out.

Amy remained on the spot for few a seconds before she walked and wrapped Reid with the extra blanket, afraid if he might be cold again. Amy's lips curved into a smile, as she watched Reid sleeping peacefully.

Amy quickly walked away from the bed towards the door when she realized she has watched Reid more than she should have, but however she stopped at the door frame and looked back inside.

_I firmly believe that you have fallen for him. _Christina's voice echoed in her head.

"Am I really?" Amy whispered to herself, with her eyes on sleeping form of Reid.

-CM-CM-CM-

Reid woke up with a groan.

"Welcome back." Amy appeared in his view. "How are you feeling?"

"Hey." Reid rasped, as he felt the urge to satisfy his dried throat with water and as if knowing his need, Amy took the cup of water with a straw and brought it near to his lips.

Reid took few sips of water. "Thanks."

"Do you remember what happen?"

"Not much, here and there and I feel like crap."

"You will be for a couple of days. Do you want to make the guess, Doctor?"

Reid blinked a few times, despite his state, his genius brain run down on few possibilities in few seconds. "Pneumonia?"

"That's right." Amy said.

"I can remember you taking me to the hospital. You were holding my hands in the ambulance."

"Oh … about that." Amy suddenly found herself lost for the correct words to define her action. "You were shaking pretty badly, so I was kind of rubbing it, you know to keep the heat."

"Thank you." Reid acknowledged.

"You are welcome, although I have to say that …"

"I have to stay in the hospital for a few days." Reid finished her sentences.

"What, you guys started reading minds too?"

Reid chuckled. "Not all the time."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "Oh my, should I be worried?"

"I was just joking."

Amy just smiled and the smile caught Reid off-guard again. "You look cute when you smile." Reid blurred out even before his mind could process what he was about to say.

Amy looked from her clipboard.

"I mean … when you smile … you know ….it forms a dimple in your cheeks …" Reid stammered as he explained himself.

"Thanks." Amy said.

Reid remained quiet, mentally cursing himself for his sudden outburst.

"I will be back, you should be having the next schedule of antibiotics soon."

"Okay."

Just when Amy walked out of the room, Reid raised his free hand and hits his own forehead. "Get a grip on yourself, Spencer."

Amy walked out smiling to herself. Somehow, it was impossible to stop smiling.

-CM-CM-CM-

"So, you got any more in your list, pretty boy?"

"No." Reid smiled. The rest of the team has gathered in his room and he can't help to cherish their presences around him.

"You better not." Kate warned.

"No, I'm planning to get better and probably no more hospital visit anytime soon after this."

"You sure about that?" Rossi asked. "You are one hell of trouble magnet."

"Rossi." Garcia hits him with her handbag. "You better rephrase your sentences now."

"Ouch …" Rossi hissed. "I was merely speaking the truth."

"Don't mess with my guardian angel, Rossi." Reid chuckled from the bed, leaning on JJ shoulders.

"See, he gets all the girls attention."

"Owh …don't be jealous there, Grandpa." Morgan teased.

"Now, you better watch your words, Derek."

"Guys." Reid called with his hand on his chest. "Don't make me laugh, please?"

"Guys, cut it off, will you?" Hotch walked nearer to the bed. "You will be up for some party tomorrow, Spencer?"

Reid raised his eyebrows. "What party?"

"It's Jack birthday tomorrow and he insists on celebrating it here with you."

"Owh, so sweet of him. I will take care of Jack's birthday cake." Garcia volunteered.

"No, Hotch." Reid said, cutting down the excitement that was building up.

"Why not?" Hotch asked.

"Because he deserve for a party in a better place, with his friends, not here, not in a hospital."

"Spencer, Jack is really happy that you're okay, and he wants to celebrate it with you, he want's nothing else, he said it's either here or call it off."

"Well, you can't expect any less from Jack Hotcher." Rossi commented.

"So, it's a yes, Spence?" JJ asked.

"I don't think I have a choice here." Reid mumbled.

-CM-CM-CM-

Amy finished her shift and was walking herself out when she saw Reid sitting on his bed, biting his nails.

"Thinking on any new gravity theory?" Amy asked, walking in.

"Oh …Amy …" Reid turned to the sudden voice. "I was just thinking about you."

Amy raised her eyebrows again, she had enough surprises today.

"Oh …" Reid cursed himself again. "I mean I need a favor, and I thought you would be the right person to help me …" Reid explained without a break in between.

"Relax, Spencer." Amy smiled. "What can I help you with…?"

"It's Jack birthday tomorrow, do you think you can help me to get him something?"

"Oh, sure, why not? What do you want to get him?"

"I'm not really sure." Reid shrugged.

"What he likes?"

"Arts …" Reid thought for a second. "Football …maybe video games …."

"I will stop by at the shop and will get him something."

"Thank you, Amy. That meant a lot."

"You said he likes arts, right?"

"Yeah."

"Give me a second." Amy said before she walked out and come back in with a drawing block, crayon and some color pens in her hands. "I got this from children's ward, maybe you can make a birthday card, and kids love it when you make them something."

"Seriously?" Reid looked from the drawing block to Amy. "I'm not much of an art guy."

Amy sat on the bed, opposite of Reid. "I don't mind helping."

"This should be fun." Reid opened the drawing block. "Let's get started then."

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes if there is any. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

"So, what do you think?" Amy asked as she showed the gift she has bought for Jack on behalf of Reid.

"Amy, this is just great. Thank you."

"Oh, thank god!" Amy exhaled as she was relieved. "I was so worried, didn't know what you would prefer to give to Jack."

"I love it, I mean I'm sure Jack will love it."

"Well then, let's wrap it." Amy took the wrapping paper from the bag she was holding. "This should only take a few minutes."

Reid watched as Amy gently wrapped the gift.

"Here," Amy handed the beautifully wrapped gift to Reid.

"Amy, thank you."

"I guess I have endless of 'thank you' from you today."

Reid smiled in reply. "Any probably tomorrow too."

"You don't have to and don't forget the card we did for him." Amy reminded Reid.

"Yes, of course." Reid took the card from the table and placed it on top of the gift box.

"Actually, I got him something too." Amy took another wrapped gift box from her bag. "Can you pass to him later?"

"Can't you stop by later? It would be great if you can hand it to him in person."

"I would love to, but it's my working hour. I wouldn't know where I would be. Sometimes, we would have emergency cases. I will try to, but no promises."

"Okay, I will pass it to him." Reid took the gift from Amy.

"Well, have fun later. I should get back to work. Bye, Spencer." Amy waved before she jogged her way out to start her shift.

"Bye, Amy." Spencer mumbled to the empty room. He wished she could have stayed a bit longer.

-CM-CM-CM-

"Happy Birthday to you!"

Sitting beside Reid on the bed, Jack was grinning widely as the team sang the birthday song.

"Make a wish, Jack." Hotch said.

Jack closed his eyes for a moment, making a wish, opened his eyes and blew the candles. All cheered and clapped the moment Jack blew the candles.

"Happy Birthday, Jack." Reid wished as he handed the gift and the card.

"Okay, I thought I warned you guys not to fall for his words. Who helped him to get gifts for Jack?" Hotch asked as he looked at his team members.

Morgan quickly raised both his hands in a defensive manner. "I did not." The others shook their head.

"I knew you have told the others not to help me, but Hotch, it's Jack birthday, how would I not get him any present?"

"Thank you, Uncle Spencer." Jack said.

"No problem, Kid." Reid ruffled Jack's hair.

"So, how did you do it?" JJ asked.

"I have someone here who was willing to help." Reid shrugged.

"Amy?" Rossi made the quick guess and Reid nodded, which made Garcia to turn to Morgan with her wide eyes.

"You made a nurse to go shopping for you?" Wow, Reid, you must have a hell of charm on her."

"Rossi!" Reid grumbled. "She was just helping."

"I guess she helped you with her card too." Kate said as she looked at the card, standing behind Jack.

"Yeah. She's so good at drawing, you should see when she's sketching. It's brilliant."

Garcia slowly took few steps back as Reid explained Amy's drawing skills to others. She stopped just beside Morgan and whispered slowly, "Looks like they are getting closer just fine without our help."

Morgan smiled and whispered back. "It's a good thing, save us from getting into trouble."

"Oh, Jack." Reid said as he took the second gift box and handed it over Jack. "This is from Auntie Amy."

"Auntie Amy?" Garcia mumbled, and looked back at Morgan. "What did I miss?"

"You are not the only one, Pen. Looks like we got a lot to catch up with."

"Jack, open the gifts. Let's see what your Uncle Spencer and Auntie Amy get you." Garcia said, walking back to the front.

"Okay." Jack took the first box and ripped the paper.

"Owh, Spence. You got Jack a Boogie Board LCD Writing Tablet?"

"Uncle Spencer, this is great. Thank you. Dad, check this out." Jack showed the gift to Hotch.

"Spencer …"

"I wanted to, Hotch." Reid said.

"Auntie Amy, got me a kinetic sand." Jack said as he showed the other gift. "This is awesome."

"It's a good medium to enhance sensory awareness, fine motor skills, and creativity." Jack read the description from the box. "Can we stop by and thank Auntie Amy, Dad?'

"Of course, Jack and maybe a piece of your birthday cake too."

**After six weeks **

The first six weeks of Reid's recovery went in tune with his progress. Although he was not happy with most part of it, Reid learnt to adjust to it in time, thanks to his team member who stood beside him. Reid was back to his apartment and Morgan made sure that Reid has never been alone. He temporarily took over Reid's couch. Jack was not happy with Reid moving out, but Reid couldn't take in of being a burden to Hotch for any longer and besides, Reid was learning to do things by himself again.

"That's it. You got it, Dr. Reid. How do you feel?" Nick, Reid's physical therapist asked as he helped Reid to sit down.

"Tired." Reid mumbled.

"You should be. Honestly, I'm impressed with your progress, Dr. Reid."

"Thank you, Nick. You helped a lot and please don't call me, Dr. Reid all the time."

Nick smiled. "I helped, yes, but the fast recovery, it's all on you. So, I will see you in two days' time?"

"Yes."

Nick nodded and walked away to resume his duty. Reid checked his watch and realized that he still has time before Morgan picks him up.

Reid slowly hobbled with his crutches, hoping to meet her.

"Hey, look at you. Back on two feet." Amy said the moment she saw him.

"Hai, Amy. Well, not all the time, half of the time I'm still on my wheelchair. How are you?"

"I'm good. You have come a long way now, don't be unmotivated just because you are still using wheelchair sometimes."

"That's right. I got some good news, I'm getting back to work next week."

"No way." Amy looked surprised.

"Dr. Scott gave me the green light, under strict rules, that I was to stay at the office only for a couple of hours. Hotch is allowing me to come back only if someone picks me up, drops me off from work and of course, nothing more than paperwork and case consultations."

"This is really a great news, but don't overdo yourself, okay? Nick was telling me that you're progressing very well. So, Derek is picking you up today?"

"Yes, but he's going to be late a bit, so I thought of stopping by …"

Morgan jogged his way in, but all of a sudden stopped when he saw Reid leaning on the wall, chatting with Amy. Morgan took a few steps back and stood, hiding himself in the corridor. Being beside Reid on his road to recovery, Morgan knew Reid had come a long way and he was proud of Reid's determination. Morgan smiled when he saw the grin on Reid's face. He knew Reid has a feeling for the girl and he also knew that Reid was damn stubborn to admit it. Morgan thought for a second and smiled widely. He knew what to do.

"Sorry, Spencer. I have to get back to work."

"It's okay. Morgan should be here any moment."

Knowing Amy was about to leave, Morgan walked towards them "Hey, Amy."

"Hey, Derek. You look good as always."

"Come on now, tell me something I don't know."

"Bragger." Amy said before she walked away.

Morgan chuckled before turning to Reid. "Come on, kid. Let's get you back home." Morgan took the small bag from Reid and slowly walked beside Reid.

"Amy, she is sure a sweet one." Morgan said, mentally praying for Reid to fall for his bait.

"She is." Reid said simply.

"Then, what is stopping you?"

"What is stopping me?" Reid raised his eyebrows. "Be more specific, Morgan."

"Okay, I will be precise. I'm asking you about what is stopping you from asking her out."

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes if there is any. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

"If you are planning on avoiding the question, you have been doing really great so far, kid." Morgan said, as he pulled his car in front of Reid's apartment.

"But guess what?" Morgan automatically locked the car before Reid could open the door. "I have decided to have the conversation with you no matter what."

"Morgan."

"Hey, don't Morgan me."

Reid sighed and leaned back on the seat.

"Look Reid, I'm not trying to say what you should do." Morgan slightly turned from his seat, facing Reid. "Do you have an idea, how lively you are when you are around her? I know you like her."

Reid turned, looking at Morgan.

"What? You're going to tell me that I'm wrong? That you don't like Amy?"

"Okay, fine. You want to hear it? Yes, I like her, so what?"

"What do you mean by so what? You don't just stop there, you need to take another step, ask her out, man."

Reid exhaled, throwing out the air, he was holding. "What if…she said no?"

"What if she said yes?" Morgan argued back.

"You don't know that."

"Then, how you could be sure that she would say no?"

"My dad said he doesn't know how to take care of me anymore, Gideon left with just a letter, and Maeve died right in front of me."

"Your mother never stopped loving you, how about us? We never backed out or how about Jack or your godson, Henry?"

Reid remained silent.

"You have people loving you more than people who have left you, Kid." After a few moment of silence, with a comforting voice, Morgan said. "It's okay to fall in love again, Reid."

"I know." Reid whispered. "But I don't want to get hurt again, Morgan."

"What if Amy likes you too? What if she is waiting for you to take the first step? You have a chance, Reid and you are forsaking it for fear."

Reid looked at Morgan again.

"Like I said before, I'm not telling you what to do, but promise me at least you will think about it?"

"Okay, can I go now?" Reid asked.

Morgan smiled as he unlocked the car.

"You're coming in?" Reid asked.

"Sorry man, I got a date with Savannah tonight, but I will be back before bedtime."

"Okay, get out before Savannah thinks you're not going to make it."

"Bye, Kid, remember, don't do anything stupid when I'm not around."

Reid shook his head. "I will be in one piece."

"Good boy." Morgan drove away, leaving Reid alone.

Reid inhaled, sometimes he wondered how he got himself so lucky with such noble friends.

-CM-CM-CM-

**Three days later.**

Reid got down the car carefully. "Thank you for dropping me off, JJ"

"You know I don't mind, Spence." JJ looked around. "So, Derek is picking you up later, right?"

"JJ, I'm just going to sit in the library and read books. Don't worry about me."

"Okay. Don't over-stress yourself. I'm just one phone call away."

"JJ, stop babying me."

"Even if you have your own kids one day, I won't stop babying you."

Reid smiled. "Go, have fun with Will and Henry. Tell Henry, I love him."

"Now, why should I tell Henry something he knows by heart?"

"Bye, JJ." Reid said before he walked into the library with his crutches. With few books, Reid settled at the end of the reading area.

Reid was in the middle of his third book when he heard the whisper.

"Hey."

Reid instantly knew who it was.

"Hai, Amy." Reid whispered back.

Amy sat opposite of Reid. "So, enjoying some time alone with books?"

Reid nodded. "How about you?"

"It's my day off. Christina is out with her boyfriend. So, I decided to gain some extra knowledge today." Amy said as she showed the medical books she have brought with her.

-CM-CM-CM-

"I can drop you off." Amy said as they walked out of the library.

"Oh, I don't want to …."

"Don't be ridiculous, you're not a burden at all and besides, you said I can borrow some of your books. Come on."

Morgan was resting lazily on Reid's couch. As he was waiting for a text from Reid to pick him up from the library, Morgan spends his evening with his favorite movies.

Morgan heard the beep.

_Amy is sending me back home._

Morgan smiled when he saw the text, he didn't want to know how they meet and how Amy is sending him back home. Morgan quickly jumped off the couch, turned the television off, took all his things off the couch and dumped it in the guest room.

As fast as he could, Morgan changed his clothes, locked the door, and ran his way to his car. Sitting in the driver seat, Morgan messaged back.

_Great, I'm just heading out. Savannah wants to meet. You guys have fun. Meet you later. _

Morgan knew he was lying, but as long as Reid and Amy get to spend some time alone, he doesn't mind wandering around.

-CM-CM-CM-

"You have a beautiful apartment, Spencer." Amy said as she walked in.

"Thank you. Would you like anything to drink?"

"Water would be nice, thank you."

"Oh my, look at the collection of your books." Amy stepped closer, running her finger along the books.

"Well, enjoy yourself." Reid said, as he went to fetch Amy a glass of water.

Reid chuckled to himself as he could hear Amy mumbling. "Oh, I always wanted to read this, can't believe you actually have it."

Somehow, he felt that Amy has changed to be a kid who is on her first trip to Disneyland.

However, Reid's smile died when he saw Amy holding the book that matters the most to him. The Narrative of John Smith, the book Maeve has presented to him.

"Spencer," Amy called, looking at Spencer once before turning back to the book. "The quote in the book is amazing."

Amy reads the quote "Love is our destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by …"

"Ourselves alone. We find it with another." Reid finished.

Somehow Amy could feel that the book held meaning more than it should. "Looks like the book was presented by someone important."

"She was."

"Was?" Amy raised her eyebrows.

Reid sat on the couch. "She was first my love, Maeve. She was killed by her stalker right in front of me."

Amy sat beside Reid, stunned. "I am so sorry, Spencer."

"It's okay. I had terrible headaches, and she helped me with it." Reid smiled a little. "We never meet, we only spoke on the phone, she was scared her stalker might hurt me and finally, when we meet, she died in front of me."

Amy suddenly felt sick, she couldn't imagine how it could be for Spencer. Amy found herself loss of words to comfort him, so she silently reached for his hands and squeezed it.

"That book meant the world to me, but as time passed by, I knew I was holding on to something that was not real anymore. So, I kept it back in the bookshelf.

"But she will always the most beautiful chapter in your life."

Reid smiled. "How about you? You have some beautiful memories in your life?"

"Beautiful, no. Painful, yes." Amy said. "Since we are sharing, Brian, he used to be the most important person in my life, but turned up I was not his."

"He cheated you?"

"No. He did something worse than that." Amy said, avoiding Reid's eye contact. "He assaulted me and tried to … rape me, but …" Amy exhaled. "Luckily, Christina decided to surprise me and walked through the back door, if not …"

"Hey, it's okay." This time Reid held her hand.

"I guess we all have some memories we want to bury it away, right?"

Reid nodded.

"I think I should go back." Amy placed the book on the table before she walked towards the door with Reid following behind.

Amy stood outside. "I had fun today. Thanks." Amy closed the distance, leaving a kiss on Reid's cheeks. "Bye, Spencer."

"Bye." Reid said, startled with the kiss he has gotten.

-CM-CM-CM-

Amy walked into the apartment she was sharing with Christina.

"Hey!"

Amy snapped out her thought. "You said something?"

"I said I got a cake from the bakery. Where's your mind, girl?" Christine asked.

"Nothing, just thinking." Amy shrugged.

"I'm listening if you want to share."

"I meet Spencer at the library."

Christina smiled. "I knew you guys got a thing. How come you just end up meeting him in the library?"

"It's a coincidence, Chris."

"How about him?"

"He shared about his first love, they loved each other without meeting, he didn't care how she looked like and finally, when they meet, she was killed in front of him."

"That's so sad, Amy." Christina mumbled.

"I know and I told him about Brian."

"What did he say?"

"I didn't give him a chance to, I left after that." Amy said. "Can you imagine, after all the cases we see each day, the girls being assaulted, tortured for sex and here we have a guy loving a girl, not knowing how she would look like?"

"Spencer is sure a sweet guy."

"You know Chris, you always asked me why I never opened myself for another relationship?"

"Yeah, but you never tell me why."

"It's because I was scared, I trusted a guy with my life, and he just ripped out my trust, my feeling and it hurt like hell. I don't want anyone to take advantage of me. I told myself I will open myself again when I yearn the feeling of needing to be loved again."

"And?" Christina asked, she was curious.

"I felt it today, Chris. If he could love her so much even without seeing her, it says everything about him. I want to feel that, Chris. Call me crazy or anything you want, I want to be the girl loved by Spencer."

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes if there is any. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

"Can I get one of those, Uncle Spencer?" Jack asked, pointing towards a certain direction.

Reid looked up, although he knew what Jack was referring to. "Jack, I have already a serious talk from your dad, on my first trip out, alone with you and you are planning to get me another lecture for buying you chocolate on the same week you have your appointment with your dentist?"

Jack smiled innocently.

"Don't give me that smile, buddy, it's not going to get you any chocolate today."

"Uncle Spencer, you're so evil."

"I can't believe you just said that. How about something less harmful for your teeth?"

"Jell-O?"

"Now you are starting to sound more like me."

But Jack's attention shifted to something else. Jack suddenly smiled widely and waved. "Auntie Amy!"

"Hey, boys." Amy joined, pushing her trolley towards them.

"Hey." Reid smiled, surprised by knowing how instantly he could smile whenever he sees her.

"Boy's day out?" Amy asked.

"You can say that." Reid shrugged. "It's my first time out alone with Jack without any bodyguard."

Amy chuckled.

"Sean!" Jack waved towards another boy. "It's my friend from school. Can I go and say Hai, Uncle Spencer?"

"Sure, go ahead."

Jack ran towards his friend, leaving Reid alone with Amy.

"So, how's work?" Amy asked.

"Great, despite the fact that Garcia turned the BAU office into a party room on my first day back."

"I can imagine that." Amy looked at her watch. "I better get going, I'm going to be late for my work. Bye, Spencer."

"Bye." Reid said. "Amy, wait." Reid called again, just after Amy took two steps away from him.

Amy turned back. "Yeah?"

"You think you will be free this Saturday evening?"

"Yeah, it's my day off. Anything?"

"Do you … maybe want to go out? Like dinner, with me?" Reid indeed have mentally rehearsed this scene in his mind thousand times.

"I would love to." Amy smiled. "Since, you probably are not allowed to drive yet, I pick you from your apartment?"

"Okay, so 7pm this Saturday?"

"Saturday, 7pm it is."

Amy disappeared after another smile and finally Reid could breathe. He exhaled loudly, he just couldn't believe that he had asked Amy out. He got a date.

"Why are you smiling, Uncle Spencer?"

"Nothing. Everything is just …" Reid looked into the distance and saw Amy standing at the counter, paying for her things … "Perfect."

"Huh?"

-CM-CM-CM-

"I'm back." Reid said as he walked into his apartment.

"In the kitchen, Pretty boy."

Reid walked and saw Morgan on the dining table, with his daily newspaper and a mug of tea since Reid was forced to cut down his caffeine intake.

"Hey, how was your first shopping trip alone with Jack?"

"It would have been more fun if you didn't bribe Rossi to keep an eye on me, your so called secret mission is busted."

"What? I did not."

"Ha-ha." Reid mocked a laugh. "And I'm the President of United States."

"I'm going to kill that old man." Morgan grumbled.

"When you guys are going to learn? Never a play trick on MIT graduate."

"How did you find out?"

"Few months out of field work, do you really thought I would have lost my observation skills? I knew he was following our cab, I didn't want to spoil the fun, so, I pretended not to see."

"I'm sorry. I was just worried. It's your first day out, alone."

"Morgan, you can't watch me all the time. You have to let me out."

"I know, man. I just …I don't want anything to happen to you … ever again." Morgan stood up with his mug in his hand.

"Promise me, you won't send any secret bodyguard, watching over me on my first date with Amy this Saturday."

Morgan's mug automatically slipped out his fingers, crashing on the floor.

"Morgan!" Reid groaned. "That's my favorite mug, you idiot." Reid reached forward to pick up the scattered pieces of his mug.

However, Morgan quickly held Reid before he could bend down, forcing Reid to face him. "You asked her out? You. Asked. Amy. Out."

"Morgan, you are being over-dramatic"

"I can't believe you asked her out. Oh. My. God. This is finally happening."

"Morgan, you are clearly spending a lot time with Garcia. Stop being a drama queen."

"Reid, I'm so happy." Morgan enveloped Reid into a hug.

"Morgan, it's just a dinner, it can mean nothing."

Morgan broke from the hug, looking at Reid. "But it's a start, kid. Make me proud, okay?"

"What? Anyways, the girls hear none of this."

"Oh, come on."

"Morgan, I still have four days before my date, and you're going to let them tease me for the next ninety six hours? You can't be that evil towards your little brother, can't you?"

Morgan chuckled. "Okay, fine. This stays between us. Men to men. Satisfied?"

"Very much. Thank you. Oh, I got your body wash, so you don't have to buy." Reid started to unpack the things.

Morgan just smiled. There is nothing more he could wish to happen, Reid is finally opening up himself, finding his way to happiness. Morgan contemplated, if it were to go the way he wished it could go, maybe it is the cue for him to move out of Reid's apartment soon.

-CM-CM-CM-

**Two months later.**

"You okay, Reid?" Morgan asked, as he saw Reid immersed in his thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking."

Morgan walked towards Reid's table, leaning closer to Reid as he whispered. "Let me guess, about your date with Amy last night?"

"You can say that." Reid whispered back.

"You couples, are the most boring of all. Kid, you have been going out with her long enough, don't you think it's time to tell her, that you have special feelings towards her?"

Reid smiled before he leaned further closer to Morgan. "Maybe tonight I will."

"You're kidding."

"Watch me." Reid said before he took his bag and started to walk from his table.

"Where are you going?"

"Like I said, I'm going to Amy that I love her." Reid smiled before he walked off the office, leaving the dazed Morgan behind.

"Did I just heard ...?"

Morgan turned and saw Hotch standing in the same shocked state as he was. "I'm afraid so, Hotch."

-CM-CM-CM-

Amy yawned as she got out of the car. It's just has been half past nine and she already can hear the bed calling her sweet name.

Amy locked the car and could feel something moving near her.

Fear crept down Amy's spine. She quickly walked towards her apartment.

"Amy."

Amy took a quick turn. "Jeez, Spencer!" Amy gasped. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't you ever do that again, Spence. You know how much I'm scared people sneaking behind me ever since Brian's incident?"

"I'm so sorry, Amy. I didn't mean to." Reid mentally cursed himself, he came all the way to tell her how much he loved her, but he ended pushing her to relive her worse nightmare.

"What're you doing here?" Amy asked, finally, when she managed to compose herself.

"I think maybe it's not a good time." Reid said, regretting how the situation turn to be.

"Oh, no, no. I will be fine. It's just me, being me. That's all." Amy smiled.

"I …em … I."

"Spence, is something wrong?"

"I …" Reid rubbed his face. "I don't want to scare you anymore tonight, this can wait."

"Spencer, just tell me." Amy pushed a little, knowing Reid wouldn't just turn up if it's not important.

"I love you."

"What?" Amy gasped, her eyes grew wide.

"I love you, Amy Carlson."

Amy stood unmoving, completely speechless. She has been waiting to hear those words from him of course, but when she finally heard it, she doesn't know how to express her feelings.

"I know this probably not the way you would have predicted because I did not as well. I mentally rehearsed a couple of times, but I thought being honest with you would probably be the best way."

Reid took a step in front. "Amy, you know everything about me. You know about Maeve and I want to tell you that you might not be my first love, but Amy, you will always be the one."

Tears leaked out Amy's eyes when she heard those words.

"I also know how hard it was for you to trust anyone else in your life after Brian. I swear you with my life, I'm nowhere near him. I can't promise that we won't fight, that things won't be bad sometimes, but no matter what happens, you will always will be the one. We will make our own good memories together, so you don't have to remember what he did to you ever again."

Reid watched Amy as she cried silently. Maybe he had overwhelmed her with his words. "Perhaps it would be better, if I let you to digest what just happened."

Reid turned around to leave. Amy's stillness, worried him more than it should, but before he took a step forward, a hand caught his arm, pulling him to turn around again.

Reid knew in another friction of a second, he's going to face Amy again, and he was nervous. Making the first sixty degree of turn, Reid's mind ran on the possibilities of what he should say.

Finally, being back face to face with Amy, he understood, perhaps he doesn't need any words from her at that moment to assure him because her eyes said it all, it spoke everything he wanted to hear from her.

On the beautiful night, nothing seemed to hold any value at that precious moment, when he felt her soft lips against his.

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes if there is any. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

It was just a quick peck on the lips, but it was enough for Reid to know the meaning of bliss.

Growing up as a child prodigy, there were a lot things Reid has been through, certain things which he wanted nothing but to bury it away. One of it was forcing himself, to kiss Diane so that he could save Maeve, but at the end of the day, not only he couldn't save her, he had to carry the disgusting feeling of kissing the killer of his first love.

Whenever his mind revived the worst memories, most of the times, he could still feel the weight of Diane's lips on his but today, having Amy's lips on his, perhaps Reid doesn't have to carry the curse of having the touch of Diane's lips on him anymore.

"Amy, I …"

"Shh." Amy pressed her finger on Reid's lips. "You don't have to say anything. There is nothing more I ever could wish in my life. I love you too."

Reid smiled as he used his thumb to wipe the tears from Amy's cheeks.

"You don't have to cry."

Amy chuckled a little as Reid wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her closer. "Tears of joy."

Being in Reid's arms, Amy couldn't feel any safer than she can ever think.

"As awkward as it is to stand and hugging you in your parking lot, I don't want to let you go."

"You don't have too, hold me as long you want. I'm all yours."

"You will always be the light of my life, Amy."

This time, Reid leaned in, closing the distances, feeling her lips on his again.

-CM-CM-CM-

"He said that?" Christina asked, with her hands held against her mouth.

Amy nodded, smiling, literally beaming with happiness.

Christina brought her hands from her mouth to her heart. "Amy, that's so sweet of him."

"I don't know if I can be any happier than this."

Christina jumped, bringing Amy into a hug. "I'm so happy for you."

-CM-CM-CM-

"Ah, Dr. Reid, good morning. How have you been?"

"Good morning, Dr. Scott. I'm fine, thank you." Reid answered, sitting on the examination bed.

"Okay, let's see. Your physical health is right on track, but I insist you on taking things a bit slower on your target to become a field agent again."

Reid sighed, not knowing he should be happy or sad regarding the doctor's suggestions.

"I think I don't to remind on what your body, especially your heart went through and it's a good thing that it is getting better stage by stage, so let's not push off its limit. Agent Hotcher, told me you have been taking FBI training again."

"Yes, under strict supervision of Agent Morgan. Nick has been keeping track as well. I understand my body is still in the stage of healing. I won't do anything stupid. I promise."

"Not that we are trying to slow you down, but certain things are meant to go the way it should be, Dr. Reid."

"Thank you, Dr. Scott."

"You're welcome." Dr. Scott was almost at the door when he turned around. "And congratulations. Amy is a sweet girl. Take good care of her."

Reid raised his eyebrows. "How?" He asked when he saw Amy at the door.

"I told Christina and the whole hospital knows about it now." Amy walked in, stood in front of Reid before she helped to button back his shirt. "Your scar should fade in approximately six months to one year.

She helped to readjust his tie. "What is going on in my genius's mind?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Are you sure?"

"It's just … I don't know when I will ever get out, being a field agent again."

"I'm sure you're working on that."

"I am but I can't run without getting tired, and I still remember the shootout whenever I'm the in shooting range. I just don't know, Amy."

"Did you talk to Hotch or Derek about this?"

"No." Reid whispered. "I don't want them to worry about me. They already have sacrificed a lot for me, I can't just burden them with this."

"Spence, nobody expecting you back on the field again anytime soon. They know your body still needs time."

"I know nobody is expecting me, but I'm expecting me to. I just feel so useless, not being able to be in the field, watching their back."

"Spencer Reid, do you have idea how useful you are, as far as I can remember, you cracked the last case, sitting on your desk. They couldn't have saved the last victim if it isn't for you."

"I know, I know." Reid mumbled. "I just want to …"

"Do something more?"

Reid nodded.

"You will, but it's just not the time yet, okay?"

"Come to think about it, sometimes, certain things just happened and it will never be the same again." Reid shrugged.

"I know, but try to look at the bright side of it."

"Since you have said it," Reid took both Amy's hands into his, keeping it near to his chest. "I think I will agree on the bright side."

"Why is that?"

Kissing Amy's knuckles, Reid said "If isn't for the shooting, I wouldn't have met you."

"So, it's worth the risk, whatever you when through?"

"Every inch of it, if you promise to stay."

"Always."

-CM-CM-CM-

After his monthly appointment with Dr. Scott, Nick, his physical therapist and lunch date with Amy, Reid went back to his office.

Even though Hotch has ordered him to take the rest of the day off, Reid went back to the office in the evening to grab a couple of paperwork that he was still yet to complete.

_You are coming in today, Kid? _

Reid saw Morgan's text message.

_Yeah, at the elevator. See you in a bit._

Reid texted back before he got into the elevator and mentally calculated at the time left. He figured that he still would time to have a small chat with the rest of the team before he pick Amy up in the end of her shift.

"Dr. Reid, looking for your team?"

"Yeah, they got a case?"

"Not exactly, you might want to check at the meeting room."

Reid walked towards the meeting room.

"Surprise!"

Reid stood, completely taken aback with the team cheering for him. "I'm pretty sure it's not my birthday and I'm not approved to be field agent again, so fill me in?"

"Nothing much," Rossi said. "We just want to celebrate the new addiction in our family."

Reid furrowed his eyebrows. "New addiction?"

"Nice try, Spence." JJ smiled. "We know about you and Amy."

"Morgan!" Reid groaned.

"Hey, don't look at me, man. You got a girlfriend and you expect the rest not to know about it, you're crazy, kid."

"You don't arrange a party for that." Reid was still shocked and to add more fun, Amy appeared with another agent.

"What are you doing here?" Reid asked.

"What do you mean? You send me a text asking me to meet you here."

Reid sighed. "Garcia!"

"What? We are not going to celebrate without having the real reason for the party." Garcia hugged both Reid and Amy. "I'm so happy."

Amy moved closer to Reid. "What did I miss?"

"You are about to know." Reid whispered back.

In the middle of the party, Hotch walked and stood beside Reid. "I just got off the phone with Dr. Scott."

"And?" Reid asked.

"Reid, I just want you to know that your position as the field agent in this team will always be yours. You don't have to rush into anything. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Reid smiled. "Loud and clear."

"Good and I'm happy for you, Reid. You and Amy is going to be great together."

"Thanks." Reid looked forward and saw Amy been overwhelmed by the team's attention.

"Amy, come here." Garcia took Amy's hand before taking Reid's hand and making both to sit on the couch.

"Smile." Garcia said, taking her phone to snap some picture of Reid and Amy together.

"Why do you need our picture?"

"To update your relationship status in your Facebook account."

"But … I don't have a Facebook account, Garcia." Reid said, smiling nervously.

"You don't, but I do."

Reid looked from his team members back to Garcia, stunned, speechless "You have a Facebook account under my name?"

Garcia nodded.

"Oh God."

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes if there is any. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

**One year later. **

Reid ran on the opposite side with his gun firmly in his hand. He stopped when he saw the Unsub running towards his direction with Hotch and Morgan running behind him.

Reid looked around and took a rod lying near and waited, hiding behind the wall nearby, knowing the Unsub have not seen him yet.

Just as he predicted, the Unsub ran towards the place Reid was hiding. Reid waited patiently and he moment he knew The Unsub was about ran pass the wall, Reid hopped in, hitting him on his leg, hard. The Unsub stumbled and fall on the ground.

"Jackie, you're under arrest for the five abductions." Reid stood with his gun pointing towards the Unsub's face.

The Unsub groaned in pain, hugging his leg. "You're crazy!"

Hotch quickly arrested him, leading him to the back the car.

"Smart move, kid. Didn't I tell you that you will be great back on the field?"

"What can I say? I learn from the best."

Morgan chuckled before he wrapped his arm around Reid's shoulders "Let's get back, Doc."

-CM-CM-CM-

Reid yawned as he climbed the stairs to his apartment. He was back being a field agent, and started travelling with the team again. Although he was back doing what he love the most, he couldn't deny missing time he used to spend with Amy. Reid couldn't help but to feel grateful for Amy's understanding of his work and that's why he promised to spend each minute with her when he's back from the case.

Reid unlocked his door, he still could catch with a few hours of sleep before Amy's done with her shift.

Reid walked in and surprised to see Amy sleeping on the couch. He raised his eyebrows. '_She's suppose to be at work_.' He thought.

Reid walked quietly and realized Amy looked paler than usual. He quickly reached for her forehead and was relieved to find the usual warmth.

Reid carefully took her into his arms, and laid her on the bed they have been sharing for the past six months. Walking back outside, he took his phone and called the one person he knew can give him some answers.

"Hey, Spencer."

"Christina, is everything okay with Amy? She's sleeping on the couch when she's suppose to be at work and she looked pale."

"Spencer, she almost fainted at work, so I personally sent her back home."

"What?" Reid hissed quietly. "Is she okay? Why didn't you call me?"

"I assure you that she's fine, but other than that, it's not for me to tell. You have to ask her."

Reid sighed. "Anyways, thank you for sending her back home safe."

"You know I would anything for my friend. Bye, Spencer."

-CM-CM-CM-

Amy jolted awake, waking Spencer in the process too.

"Hey, you're back." Amy whispered, laying on his chest.

"Amy, you almost fainted at your work, is there anything you want to tell me?"

Amy inhaled before she sat on the bed, followed by Reid.

"Please don't freak out."

"Amy, you're scaring me."

"I'm pregnant."

"What?" Reid gasped. "Are you serious?"

"Spencer …"

"I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. This is really happening?"

Amy showed her test results and the word positive stands out.

"I'm going to be a father." Reid mumbled, still stunned.

"I know we didn't plan this anytime soon, but …"

"Amy." Reid cut her talking. "This is just great."

"You're okay with it?" Amy asked.

"It's my child, you're carrying, and of course I would be okay. Actually, I'm more than okay, I just feel so contented right now but wait, you almost fainted, is everything alright?"

"I'm okay, it's just been a busy week and I almost looked pass the signs. I will take it easy, promise. We have a lot of things to plan, don't we?"

"Talking about planning, actually I planned on something else." Reid reached to the side, grabbing a small box.

Amy held her hands over the mouth, startled, when Reid opened the box, revealing a ring.

"I was supposed to propose you tomorrow night after the dinner but I don't think I can find any perfect moment than now. Amy, I …"

"Don't …"

Reid furrowed his eyebrows.

"Spencer, this one year has been the most wonderful one for me. I cherish each day, each second of it. There is nothing more I would ever want than to be Mrs. Reid, so, yes."

Reid smiled widely as he slides the ring on Amy's finger. "I love Amy."

"I love you too, genius." Amy tackled Reid back on the bed before she kissed him.

"Amy …" Reid called, trying to gain her attention, between the kisses.

"Amy." Reid called again, holding her over him, looking into her eyes.

"What?" Amy asked, catching the breath herself.

Reid looked over the nightstand, motioning Amy to look towards the watch as well. "If you start now, we're going to be late to JJ and Will's wedding anniversary party.

"Hmm." Amy looked back. "Don't worry. I will be really quick." Amy smiled before she leaned back, capturing Reid's lips again.

Reid pulled Amy closer to him, deepening the kiss, there was nothing he wanted to think about anymore at the moment.

-CM-CM-CM-

"Sorry, we are late." Reid said as he turned back and narrowed his eyes at Amy.

"Can we have the 'I told you so' moment later?" Amy whispered.

"It's okay." Morgan said. "We know you young lovebird couple have some lost sessions to catch up with."

"What sessions?" Henry asked innocently.

"Derek!" Garcia hit Morgan's arm. "Language."

"Oops. Sorry, my bad."

Reid shook his head before he walked in and placed the dessert prepared by Amy on the kitchen table.

"Spencer was having some questions, so I thought I would answer them before we come here." Amy said as she hugged Henry.

"Spencer had questions?" Rossi asked. "That's new."

"What was the questions about, if you don't mind us asking?" JJ asked as she set the table.

"Well, the question is not important anymore, what matter's the most is the answer."

"Why is that?" Will questioned.

Amy grinned before she raised her hand up, showing the shinning ring on her finger. "Because I said yes."

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes if there is any. Please review.**

**Thank you.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hello, everyone.**

**Enjoy and looking forward to hear from all of you.**

"Oh my…" Garcia squeaked really loudly before she hugged both Amy and Reid, squeezing them to the maximum. "My babies are getting married."

"Congratulation, lovebirds."

"Looks like we have more reasons added to our celebration today." JJ said as she hugged Amy followed by Reid.

"My man." Morgan gave Reid a hug. "But you were telling me all those romantic dinner you were planning on to ask her, but you just couldn't wait, don't you?"

"Actually, the plan is still on …"

"What made you ask her today then?"

Reid looked at Amy and when she nodded. "Well, I thought I couldn't find any other perfect moment to pop up the question when she said she was pregnant."

Utter silence reigned in the room for one second and Amy started laughing, looking at the team's facial expression.

"We're going to have a baby genius?" Garcia asked, still looked wordlessly with happiness mixing in her face.

Amy walked towards Reid, hugging him on the side while placing one of her palms on her stomach. "Mayday everybody, we have a baby genius coming on the way."

Reid had to close his ears with his palms when the team squeaked with extra excitement.

"Oh, I just can't wait." Garcia hugged Amy again. "How far are you?"

"Four weeks."

"You're going to be a great father, Reid, and Amy, you are going to be a wonderful mother." Hotch wished the couple.

"Pretty boy, you are making speechless day by day."

"Guys, enough with us already, we have gathered here today to celebrate someone else big day."

"Don't worry, Spencer." Will poured wine for everyone except for Amy, who preferred taking a juice. "We don't mind sharing."

Taking the glass of wine for himself, Reid looked at his team members. "Guys, I would like to say something."

"What is it, Reid?" Kate asked.

"First, I would like to thank each and everyone in this room because if it isn't for you guys, I don't know where would I have be, worse, I don't even know if I would still be still alive today."

"Hotch, Jack was right, you are an awesome father. Thank you for having me in your house, taking care of me like your son. I just can't thank you enough for that."

"You don't have too, Spencer. You always has been a family to me, and I'm happy that finally, you have a family on your own."

"Rossi, you're the best colleague anyone can have. Thank you for being there for me, talking me out of my problems …"

"Kid, just stop. I promised myself that I won't cry not matter what, so don't make me break my own determination." Rossi showed his hands up. "I'm always proud of you."

Reid smiled. "Kate, despite having your own issues, you never stepped aside from me. Thank you for being such a good listener, best friend…"

"Reid, you would have done the same thing for me."

"JJ, I can never ask for any better big sister than you. Thank you for watching over me in my each step of recovery. Will, you too, thank you."

"You don't have to say all that, Spence and please, don't make me cry on my wedding anniversary."

"Garcia, you showed me how colorful life can be. Thank you for being the one person to show me the true meaning of life."

"Oh, Junior G-man, you're making me emotional already. You're going to spoil my makeup."

"Morgan, honestly, I don't have any words to describe what you truly meant to me. As annoying as you can be, I appreciate every single thing you have done for me. I don't have any big brother on my own and I don't know even if I do have, he would have done the same things you have done for me. I am who I am today, after the shooting all because of you, so thank you."

"Today is one the day you make me so speechless, kid and I love you too."

"Finally, Amy." Reid looked at his beautiful fiancée. "I don't even know how I got myself so lucky. You have so many years ahead of you, thank you for deciding to share it with me, to be my better half."

"Oh, Spence, you're too cute." Amy kissed his cheeks.

"So, in return for all these heart touching speech, we get to kiss you too?" Rossi asked.

"Erm, no."

"We don't take no for an answer. Morgan, please do the honors and catch him."

"What? Guys …"

Amy started giggling when she saw Reid started running around with Morgan and Rossi, trying to catch him.

-CM-CM-CM-

Amy sat down on the sofa beside Reid, far behind from the team. She tried hard not to laugh, looking at Reid holding both his hands on his cheeks.

"Oh, come on, not you too."

"You're lucky, Derek didn't kiss your lips."

"Amy, don't make me puke my dinner."

Amy chuckled. As she looked at her stomach with one of her palms on it, Amy said. "You're listening, peanut? Your daddy is going to be a little grumpy tonight."

"You do realize that she can't hear you just yet?"

Amy narrowed her eyebrows. "You just said, it's a she."

"What's wrong with having a daughter?"

"How can you possibly know that? And besides, I prefer on going for a boy, a mini Reid, just as nerd and cute like his father."

"I think I would prefer a girl, just as sweet, as understanding, and as loving as her mother."

"So, it's either a girl or a boy, want to see who wins?"

"How about a girl now and a boy in the future, which will make both us as the winner."

"Interesting suggestion, Dr. Reid. I think I will buy it." Amy leaned in and with Reid just about to meet her lips halfway, Morgan whistled.

Amy realized that they just had everyone's eyes on them instead of the television, which previously had, thanks to Morgan.

"I… I'm just going to get some water." Amy quickly left the awkward location, leaving Reid to be the center of attention.

"We got underage kids in the room, you might want to keep your lips to yourself, Pretty boy."

Reid probably wouldn't have never blushed like that in his life before. "Guys, can we turn back to stare at television again?"

-CM-CM-CM-

"Thank you for staying back and help us clean, Spence."

"You're welcome. We're going to lead back home. It's getting late."

JJ hugged Amy and Spencer before she bend down slightly, looking at Amy's stomach. "You, the little one, have no idea what an awesome parents you're about to have."

Reid and Amy smiled before both turned back to leave JJ's house.

Reid intertwined her hands with his, and walked towards their car. "It's a perfect day, isn't it?"

"It is."

Halfway through the drive back home, Reid stopped at the signal and laughed to himself.

"What are you laughing about?"

"There," Reid pointed toward the side of the road.

"I still don't get what's the laugh about?"

"That's the same place I was shot."

"Oh, I … you see your near death experience place and can laugh about it?"

"Come to think about it, the shooting might have taken some time out of my life, but it made me realize what a great friends I have, gave me a beautiful fiancée, a baby, so, yeah, I can laugh about it.

**Hey, guys. As much as I love and addicted to writing this story, it has to come to an end at some point, right? So, I thought of ending it here and a sequel maybe? How about a sequel with the wedding, of course baby genius with the team in between and perhaps a twist to test how strong Reid and Amy's relationship is? Let me know what you guys think. Should I or should I not with the sequel.**

**Last but not least, I would like to thank everyone for all the those encouraging and educational reviews. I would not have come so far without you guys enjoying the story. So, a big fat thanks for everyone.**

**Have a nice day. ****Sincere apologies for the mistakes if there are any. ****Thank you.**


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